


Survivors of Gallifrey

by Lumendea



Series: Legacy of the Bad Wolf [2]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-18
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-11-02 05:35:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 37,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10938066
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lumendea/pseuds/Lumendea
Summary: The sequel to Turn Your Back, Look Away and Blink. The Doctor, Rose and Timothy continue their travels, but something is looming over the horizon. An old enemy will rise and threaten the life the Doctor and Rose have built. Uptopia and Last of the Time Lords rewrite.





	1. First Movement

**Author's Note:**

> This is an older story that I am finally editing and posting here. I hope you enjoy it.

Survivors of Gallifrey

by Lumendea

Chapter One: First Movement

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and gain nothing from the creation of this story

 

………………………..

 

The Level 3 planet, Zyphone was a calm and tranquil place with a very peaceful native population. A soft west wind blew about the long green grass on the highland cliffs and far below the black sand of the great desert blew up into dunes. High above the surface in the pale violet sky, the blue moon’s white rings were glowing softly, illuminating the land. Then the sounds of blasting echoed in the air and a moment later the Doctor, Rose and Timothy were rushing back to the TARDIS perched on the edge of the highland cliffs. Glancing back, the Doctor did a quick count of the humanoids chasing after them with their delta blasters and tightened his grip on Rose’s hand. He quickly opened the TARDIS, pushing Rose inside and letting Timothy slip past him before leaping in himself.

 

Timothy slammed the TARDIS door as the Doctor scrambled up the ramp to the controls with Rose’s hand still clutched in his own. The blond boy leaned against the door panting as the Doctor put the ship into flight.

 

“Okay I guess the people of Zyphone aren’t as friendly as they used to be,” the Doctor said. Rubbing the back of his neck, he sighed in relief as the TARDIS entered the Vortex.

 

“What tipped you off to that Doctor?” Rose asked. “The guns pointed at us or their decision to sacrifice us to their goddess?” There was no malice in her voice and instead, she looked ready to start giggling as soon as she caught her breath.

 

Leaning against the rail, Timothy watched them with interest. Even after seven months of travelling with them, he still found that their way of interacting with one another was fascinating.

 

“So I forgot that the Zyphone natives all have brown hair! It’s an easy mistake and since their goddess is blonde it makes sense that they would want you and Timothy.”

 

“I’m not that blonde,” Rose retorted. She frowned and tugged at a strand of her dark blonde hair. “I don’t dye my hair anymore.”

 

The Doctor nodded at them but shrugged. “You’re still blond compared to them,” he said a bit sheepishly. He rolled on the balls of his feet and looked at Rose nervously.

 

 

Timothy watched for a moment as the Doctor grinned at Rose and her expression melted into a sweet smile that only caused the Doctor to grin more widely. Watching, the Doctor retake Rose’s hand and pull her close to him, Timothy blinked and blushed slightly. Timothy turned away at this point, knowing what was to follow. Despite knowing that they considered him a dear friend and didn’t care if he saw them kiss, his upbringing was too hard to overcome. So instead the boy walked through the TARDIS and listened to her soft humming with a smile as he headed toward the kitchen.

 

In the last few months, he had become comfortable in what Rose called ‘practical time travel clothes’ or jeans and jumpers with running shoes. While he wasn’t inclined to admit it out loud he did have to give her credit, Rose was right that solid, but unrestricting clothes were the best option. At this point, he’d mastered the different machines in the kitchen that had originally confused him to no end. He was sure his late mother would have been in awe of many of these items, but his father would have taken an axe to them. His uncle was the curious member of his family who liked to examine everything. Timothy brushed the thoughts of his family away turning instead back to thoughts of his hunger.

 

Pulling out some bread, Timothy made himself a simple sandwich and smiled as he heard Rose and the Doctor move past the kitchen to their room. He spent much of his time on the TARDIS alone and thinking, whenever Rose and the Doctor were together at least. Of course, he wasn’t bored by any means. There was a large garden in the TARDIS and the library would take centuries to read. Rose had introduced him to the media room and there was a great pleasure in discovering things that he’d have never lived to see.

 

Timothy felt at home on the TARDIS. While Rose and the Doctor often went off alone he enjoyed a warm friendship with them both. In many ways, Rose was like the sister he’d never had but wanted: kind, thoughtful and supportive. The Doctor was more difficult for him, he knew so much of the Doctor’s past and had seen the conflicting emotions that marked the man. Still, they understood each other on a certain level. Timothy had felt the Doctor’s mind brush against him a few times in the last seven months and knew that the Doctor liked having him around.

 

Leaning back, Timothy finished his sandwich and cleaned up with a frown. Something was weighing on his mind, something he couldn’t quite pin down and identify, but it felt like the hours before a storm when the sky was still clear. You couldn’t be certain what it was, but you could feel the energy in the air. Timothy could feel it now, creeping towards them. Something was coming.

 

…………………

 

Smiling up at the Doctor with a happy and sleepy smile, Rose giggled as he kissed her hand gently and then her forehead. The room around them was silent except for the distant hum of the TARDIS.

 

“I love you, Doctor,” she whispered as she curled down into the bed. Rose saw him nod before he propped himself up on his arm behind her. Shivering as he dropped a kiss on her shoulder, Rose asked, “Where are we going tomorrow?” She felt his lips twist into a smile as he kissed her shoulder again.

 

“We’ll decide that tomorrow,” he said softly to her. “You’re tired.”

 

Rose nodded with a small smile still on her face and sunk her face into her pillow. “Goodnight Doctor,” she sighed as she closed her eyes.

 

Feeling his lips brush her forehead, Rose smiled as he whispered, “Goodnight Rose. I love you too.”

 

Surrounded by a feeling of contentment, Rose sighed and snuggled deeper into the nest of blankets. As she dozed off, the Doctor stayed next to her. He watched the right and fall of her breathing and continued his memorization of all her features. It wasn’t for another hour before he carefully climbed out of the bed and redressed.

 

………………….

 

Looking up, Timothy gave the Doctor a nod as the Time Lord leaned against the door frame of the library. He adjusted the heavy tome in his hands and waited for the Doctor to say something. There was an air of thoughtfulness around the Time Lord that made Timothy wonder if the Doctor could feel what was coming. He almost asked, but couldn’t force out the words.

 

“You spend a lot of time in here Timothy,” the Doctor observed with a small smile. “Hope you don’t have plans to jump start Earth’s technologies.”

 

Timothy knew it was a joke on the surface, but he could hear another note of remembrance in the Doctor’s voice. Holding up the volume he was reading, Timothy revealed that it was on Earth’s ancient history.

 

“My uncle was stationed in Africa,” he told the Doctor. “He sent me interesting items and some amazing stories.”

 

He watched the Doctor nod and sit across from him, glancing at Timothy’s stack of books. Timothy was well aware of the Doctor thinking back to the school and his time in the village in moments like these.

 

“I should take you there,” the Doctor said suddenly, startling him.

 

“Perhaps you will,” Timothy replied with a smile, “Of course the mystery is good too.”

 

Timothy paused and yawned making the Doctor smile and chuckle. “You humans need so much sleep,” he said fondly.

 

Knowing better than to argue, Timothy stood up. He set his latest book on the top of the stack and waited for a moment. Yet the Doctor said nothing more. “I’ll turn in then. Goodnight Doctor.”

 

……………………………

 

The Doctor smiled as he stepped into the quiet bedroom and turned the light on a low setting so he could see without disturbing his sleeping lover. Rose was still curled up in their bed and now wrapped around his pillow instead of her own, he noted with a silent chuckle. Shoving his hands in his pockets, the Doctor walked over the side of the bed quietly and stopped just short of the edge. He took a chair from the corner of the bedroom and set it next to Rose’s side of the bed and sat down comfortably in it. The Doctor pulled on his glasses and studied Rose intensely noting her breathing patterns and the movements of her eyelids.

 

She didn’t know that he watched her like this in the quiet nights on the TARDIS and he always slipped away before she woke. A few times before she had been lost to him in the other universe, he had thought about indulging his desire to see her when the nights grew long and boring but had never allowed himself to get that close lest he lose his reason. There’d been so many reasons back then why this relationship had been a bad and dangerous idea. They were still there, on the edge of his mind.

 

Tilting his head, the Doctor carefully noted every breath and the way her hair fell about her face and onto the pillows in the soft dark blonde waves. Her full lips were open slightly and he could almost feel her soft breaths from between them where he sat. The Doctor was memorising her and put every detail of their time together into the deepest parts of his mind in preparation for the inevitable day when his memories would be all he had again. When it happened again, the Doctor intended to have no regrets and no holes in his memory. Everything that he had wished for or regretted during her absence was still in his mind and he was ensuring that he dealt with it all.

 

Time slipped by, the seconds ticking into hours, but he stayed still and watched her. It was strange, but he had no desire to leave or do anything else. Long ago the idea of just sitting still for hours while a human slept would have been alien. It would have been terrifying and yet here he was. Rose shifted a few times in her sleep and stray word would escape her lips from time to time, but she did not wake. And he did not leave.

 

The Doctor swallowed as his thoughts strayed back to her return. The weeping angels had by accident sent her back to him when he was a human in 1913. Even as nothing more than a human Rose had loved him and left him too weak against her love when he opened the watch. All choice had been removed, leaving him with only the ability to love her and no strength left to deny that he loved her. Still, in the quiet moments, he reflected on the life he might have had as John Smith with Rose. His son and daughter... he shook his head, pushing away the faces of his might have been children.

 

Noting that her breathing was slowly increasing and that the movements of her eyelids had slowed, the Doctor stood from the chair and moved it back to the corner. He indulged himself for another moment as Rose shifted and giggled in her sleep before he left the room to avoid her finding him like that. It wasn’t that he didn’t often stay with her at night, but since he didn’t need nearly as much sleep they had agreed that there was no point in him just lying in bed bored. Even after seven months of having Rose back in his life and their relationship openly romantic, the Doctor still found it difficult to verbalise his thoughts and emotions to Rose. Time Lord culture didn’t work that way, but the words meant the world to her. Yet in the back of his mind, he couldn’t help but feel the seconds slipping away.

 

She was still human. So wonderfully human, but his time with her was slowly winding down. Slipping away like sand in an hourglass he could never turn. There were things that could be done to extend her life and in a year or two, he planned to bring it up with her. Yet it would never be enough. The end was always going to come, hence the early morning watching.

 

 

He shook off those thoughts as he entered the control room and found Timothy leaning back in the jump seat with a thick book from the library. Smiling at the boy, the Doctor tilted his head and grinned.

 

“Harry Potter?”

 

Timothy looked up sharply at him and gave him a sheepish smile. “Rose mentioned it,” he said. The lad shrugged and looked at the cover as the Doctor watched with a smile. “I admit it is very creative and a nice change from Egyptian history.”

 

“Wait til you finish the series,” the Doctor grinned. “The Harry Potter Encyclopedia is in the library somewhere along with a copy of _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_.” Rubbing his hands together, the Doctor examined the TARDIS carefully, focusing in on the feel of his ship and her vibrations. A small frown slid onto his face, but he shrugged it off. “Not a problem,” he declared straightening up.

 

“What’s not a problem?”

 

The Doctor looked up with a grin at the doorway where Rose stood in jeans and a soft violet shirt. His hearts speed up the tiniest bit as she smiled with her tongue poking out and the Doctor didn’t even bother holding back his grin. Laughing, the Doctor motioned to the TARDIS column and crossed his arms.

 

“She needs a bit of energy,” he answered.

 

He watched Rose’s soft look of affection for the TARDIS before she shifted her attention back to him. “Ah,” Rose said as she stepped up next to him and slid her hand into his with a smile, “Cardiff it is then.”


	2. Keeping Secrets

Survivors of Gallifrey

By Lumendea

Chapter Two: Keeping Secrets

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and gain nothing from the creation of this story

 

………………………….

 

The TARDIS materialised smoothly in Cardiff, right on top of the rift in the present day. Rose giggled in delight as Timothy looked at the screen and out at the modern Cardiff.

 

“What is the point of landing here Doctor?” Timothy asked. The boy tilted his head curiously. “I mean it’s Cardiff.”

 

“Ah,” the Doctor said to him, raising his eyebrows. “The thing about Cardiff is it is built on a rift in time and space.” Timothy saw the Doctor look over at Rose as he flipped more switches.

 

Rose nodded and continued for him, “It doesn’t affect humans, Tim, it's invisible energy.” Timothy turned to look at her instead of the Doctor. “But the TARDIS runs off of it. She just needs to soak up the radiation for a bit,” Rose explained.

 

“More like a few seconds,” the Doctor said suddenly from across the controls. “The rift has been active recently.”

 

Timothy blinked at the Doctor, not understanding him so he turned to Rose who grinned at him. “Rose?”

 

Jack Harkness felt the weight of his bag smashing into his back as he ran, but he couldn’t care about that now. He couldn’t care about anything but reaching that ship, that seemingly innocent blue box just sitting on the rift. “Doctor!” he yelled desperately, praying that maybe the Time Lord would hear him. His eyes widened in fear as the TARDIS began to shift back into the vortex. In a last burst of strength, he launched himself at the TARDIS.

 

“Basically the TARDIS is eating, Timothy, so she can keep going,” Rose finished with a smile.

 

Leaning on the rails, Timothy smirked as the Doctor said, “I suppose that’s a simple way of putting it Rose, but there were some cars in 1913.”

 

“You really want to compare the TARDIS to a car?” Rose asked. She put a hand on the controls and gave the Doctor a tongue on teeth smile.

 

The Doctor smiled at her softly before looking down at the screen. Timothy frowned as a look of near panic crossed the Doctor’s face. “All powered up. Time to go!” Timothy jumped back from the controls as the Doctor began flipping switches.

 

Rose frowned as his sudden actions. “Doctor! What?!”

 

The TARDIS gave a violent shudder that sent sparks all over the floor and entered the vortex making Timothy and Rose grab onto the console. Rose grabbed the railing and pulled herself over the Doctor, a look of worry on her face.

 

“Doctor, what’s wrong?” Rose asked. “Is the TARDIS alright?” The Doctor grabbed the screen and righted it, Rose flinched as a look of shock and almost panic crossed his face. “Doctor?”

 

“We’ve accelerated into the future. The year one billion, five billion, five trillion,” Rose tightened her grip on his hand, the look on his face telling her that something was wrong. She dared to look away from the Doctor at Timothy who was holding on tight to the railing on the other side of the controls. Seeing that he was fine, Rose quickly looked back to the Doctor as he gasped, “The year one hundred trillion, that’s impossible!”

 

“What does that mean?” Rose pressed him, squeezing his hand, “Doctor?” She swallowed at the startled and unsure look he gave her.

 

“We’re going to the end of the universe,” the Doctor gasped.

 

……………………..

 

No stars were shining in the darkness and vastness of space. Far above was just blackness. Cold filled the sky and only faint natural bioluminescent rocks provided any light. The universe had expanded too far and the energy from the creation was now spread too thinly over the reaches of the cosmos. Night and day now existed only the minds of the survivors as a way of tracking the flow of time. Barren and cold terrain marked the stony rock of a planet that survived only because of a shield. Under a protective cliff face, a huge fire burned as a large group of savage creatures tried to fight back the chill.

 

A male with dark hair and marking on his face raised his head and hissed. “Humans are coming.” The words were long and slurred, twisting around his pointed teeth.

 

Around him, his pack raised their head and sniffed at the air as excitement built. Cries in the distance of “human” from their guards, sped up their excited shrieking and they leapt up from the fire in pursuit of the powerless human running from them on the dead world.

 

…………………………………

 

The beeping of a round radar style scanner made Professor Yana turn away from his work to inspect it. He was a shorter man dressed neatly in a waistcoat but weighed down with age reflected in his stark white hair. “Movement on the surface,” he said scornfully. “Another human.” The elderly man sighed and shook his head. “God help him.” Yana glanced over as his insectoid assistant, Chantho, as she stood up from her console.

 

“Chan, shall I alert the guards, tho?” she asked kindly.

 

Shaking his head and rubbing his eyes, Yana tried to ignore the guilty and sneaking feeling in him. “No,” he said to her firmly. He walked towards a small alcove set up with chairs and a table. “We can’t spare them. Poor beggar is on his own.” Turning back to Chantho he briefly let his exhaustion show. “One more lost soul dreaming of Utopia.” He sighed softly as Chantho came close.

 

“Chan, you mustn’t talk as though you’ve given up, tho,” she told him. He could hear her faith in her in the words.

 

Nodding, he quickly raised the mug in his hand with a small forced smile for the benefit of his long-time friend. “Oh no not indeed,” he said. “Here’s to it, Utopia.” He glanced away from the girl as he sipped the coffee only to flinch from the taste. Frowning, he looked down into the cup and made a face. “Where it is to be hoped the coffee is a little less sour.” Chantho smiled at him softly, glad to see him straightening up to the challenge again. “Will you join me?” Professor Yana asked her a moment later, but she shook her head and smiled.

 

She was glad that she wasn’t able to blush in the human sense of it as she said, “Chan, I am happy drinking my own internal milk, tho.” She watched him with a tiny forced and uncomfortable smile as the Professor grimaced.

 

“Yes,” he told Chantho softly, “Well that is quite enough information thank you.” Turning away from her, Chantno watched him set down the mug on the table behind him.

 

 

They both looked up as a voice came over the loudspeaker, “Professor Yana, don’t want to rush you, but how are we doing?” Yana swallowed nervously, lies did not come to him easily and especially not this lie. The one thing in his life that he needed to get right and it was going all wrong. Still, it was better to grant those poor waiting souls their hours of hope rather than nothing against the darkness. He ignored the worried look Chantho gave him and stepped back into the lab.

 

“Ah yes. Working yes, almost there,” Yana replied loudly.

 

The voice responded with another question, “How is it looking on the footprint?”

 

He paused and forced himself into a lighter tone of voice, “It’s good yes. Fine. Excellent.” He tried to ignore the twist in his stomach but wasn’t able to. Looking over at Chantho, he gestured for her to take over. To his relief, she did so a moment later and he stumbled back to his controls. Breathing was difficult for a moment as he rubbed his tired eyes and then he heard it in the back of his mind, louder than ever. The drums were coming closer and closer, the rapid beats ever steady but louder. Closer and closer and closer.

 

Snapping back to reality at the call of his name, he noted with relief that the drumming dimmed in his mind and let him think again. Breathing in deeply, he tried to turn his mind away from the drums. They made no sense, even after all these years, but they remained ever drumming in his mind. Always there. He’d learned long ago to live with them, but each year they became a little louder. Like the drummer was coming closer. Turning to the scanner at Chantho’s urging he raised his eyebrows in interest as it picked up a square object on the surface.

 

“It would seem that something new has arrived,” he said. Curiosity grew in his chest.

 

…………………………

 

Rose fell into the Doctor’s arms as the TARDIS came to a shaky landing and breathed him in as she heard the hum of the TARDIS return to normal. She felt his arms tighten around her, giving her the strength to look up at him. To her surprise, he wasn’t looking at her, but still staring at the screen. There was real fear in his eyes. She watched his eyes drift up the TARDIS central column.

 

“Oh, we’ve landed.”

 

Timothy proved braver than her this time as he joined them. “Doctor? Where are we?” he asked.

Rose noted Timothy swallow uncomfortably and was a bit glad at his own nervousness. “What’s out there?”

 

“I don’t know,” the Doctor answered softly, his voice breathless making Rose gasp softly.

 

“That’s new,” she whispered, “Not often I hear you say that.” She glanced at the doors in concern. “There’s not a beast waiting outside.” Relaxing as he took her hand, Rose gave him a soft smile which he did not return.

 

“None of the Time Lords even came this far.” He was looking right at her now. “We should leave.” He breathed as his eye drifted back to the controls. “We should go. We should really go,” he said. The words made her think back to the Impossible Planet.

 

“Yes we should,” Timothy said suddenly. Rose looked at him in surprise, thus far their guest had thrown himself into everything they came across. Timothy swallowed as the Doctor turned his dark worried eyes on him, “This place...” he trailed off, “I can’t feel.... anything Doctor.” He swallowed and added, “Nothing.” Timothy watched as Rose tightened her grip on the Doctor’s hand, praying that she would convince him to change his mind. The usual feeling at the back of his mind, the connection to the life around was gone. Whenever they landed on a world he could feel it even in the TARDIS, but now there was just an overwhelming cold. Shuddering Timothy looked imploringly at the Doctor and said, “We should go. Something is wrong with this place.”

 

“End of the universe Timothy,” the Doctor said. There was a false forced smile on his face. “Everything is dying.”

 

 

“Why would you want to see that?” Timothy asked in retort, a spark of anger rising in him.

 

Rose shook her head and stepped between them, held up her hands and interrupted them, “Right now the question is why did the TARDIS bring us here?”

 

Timothy noticed a change in the Doctor’s stance, but he hesitated as if worrying about something else. Frowning, Timothy watched him step away from Rose and look at the scanner. That storm at the edge of his senses was worse now. The same instincts that had urged him towards the watch were stronger than ever. Pushing him to run away from this place. Something was going to happen and it frightened him. It frightened him even more than those images of mud and blood.

 

The Doctor sighed as the image of the outside dying world appeared on the screen. He felt Rose’s nearness, but at the moment it was not a comfort. Now he was trapped in his mistakes. If they left now, he'd leave Jack at the end of the universe and while the man frightened him and went against every cell in his body the thought of leaving him at the end of everything made him ill. It had been bad enough leaving him back on Satellite Nine. His defence there was the fragility of his regeneration coming.

 

At the same time, letting Jack into the TARDIS to return to the 21st century would show his omission of the facts to Rose. Her knowledge of her actions as Bad Wolf was so limited and Jack’s immortality would raise so many questions. The curse she’d laid on their friend would haunt her, hurt her and that wasn’t something he wished. He was trapped and he knew it. The Doctor sighed as he gazed off into space. The feel of Rose’s hand sliding into his warmed him for a moment as he took a deep breath. Turning to her, he saw concern in her eyes and she was frowning, not smiling. He greatly preferred her smiling to this sad look.

 

“Are we leaving then?” Rose asked in a small voice.

 

The Doctor opened his mouth, trying to find an answer. The earlier debated choice was taken from the Doctor as a loud pounding on the door started. Apparently, Jack was back on his feet already. Sighing, the Doctor rubbed his eyes.

 

“Timothy will you get that,” the Doctor said in defeat. “It’s an old friend of ours.”


	3. Possible Pain

Survivors of Gallifrey

By Lumendea

Chapter Three: Possible Pain

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and gain nothing from the creation of this story

 

…………………

 

Timothy was certain that he had a shocked expression on his face as he looked at the Doctor. The heavy pounding on the door continued behind them and then stopped suddenly. Tim stared at it in shock with no small amount of fear. He wasn’t sure what was happening, but this was new behaviour for the Time Lord.

 

“Open the door, Timothy,” the Doctor repeated. “He has a key, but better to be polite at the moment.”

 

Nodding, still confused, Timothy glanced over at Rose only to see she was just as confused by the Doctor’s actions and attitude. That didn’t help his own nerves. Holding back a shudder, Timothy moved the door and took a breath before opening the door. A cold wind from the outside ripped into the TARDIS making Timothy blink to protect his eyes from dust. Looking up, he blinked again at a tall and clearly human man looking at him.

 

Jack was still as the young boy looked him over with a careful and intense gaze that to be completely honest, gave Jack a shudder. He was fairly certain that the Doctor hadn’t regenerated this young and there was almost no familiarity in the gaze. But something about him was a bit different. Finally, the boy stepped to the side.

 

“The Doctor said to let you in.”

 

Nodding, Jack put his keys back into the pocket of his long coat and stepped back into the TARDIS. He had to grab the rail as the TARDIS shook, but the action only seemed to make it shake more.

 

“Jack?” a shocked and familiar female voice asked from in front of him.

 

Looking up, Jack felt a bubble of joy rise in his chest as his eyes fell on Rose Tyler. She looked older and her hair was darker, but she was without a doubt one of the most gorgeous things he had seen in years. A happy laugh of joy and disbelief escaped him. He didn’t even know what to say. Rose gave him a brilliant smile and dashed across the console room.

 

Opening his arms, Jack caught her and hugged her tightly. Maybe the world wasn’t as dark as he thought it was. He had looked for any mention of her after Canary Wharf, but there had been no signs that she had returned to Earth. Smiling into Rose’s hair, Jack breathed her in for a moment before looking up at the Doctor. He frowned when he saw that the Doctor’s attention was on the TARDIS, he wasn’t surprised and that made Jack swallow hard.

 

 

The Doctor put his hand on the TARDIS controls, mentally begging his ship to calm down as the subtle vibrations continued. Swallowing, he watched the happiness in Jack and Rose’s faces and his stomach dropped as a flash of guilt threading in his mind. He glanced over at Timothy as the boy rushed past Rose and Jack up to him.

 

“Doctor, something is wrong,” the boy hissed to him. All he could do was nod. He knew that Timothy was clever, the boy had a gift, but how could he even begin to explain this to the lad. “This man....” The Doctor raised an eyebrow in surprise as Timothy looked back at Jack. “Something isn’t... right about him.”

 

Nodding, the Doctor sighed softly. He knew Timothy wouldn’t be able to tell what it was. To him, it was probably that Jack was too old for a human, too much built up psychic energy. For him, the shudders and ill feeling were caused by something very differently. Something that was wrong on every level of time and space, something impossible that was right in front of him.

 

“I know,” he said softly. The Doctor pulled himself back to the reality of his companion. He looked back at Timothy and tried to smile. “Right now I need to talk with him. You and Rose stay inside.”

 

“She won’t like that,” Timothy said.

 

The Doctor grimaced a bit and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, but I need to talk to Jack first.” Stepping forward, the Doctor gently pulled Rose from Jack’s arms and forced a smile. “Welcome back Captain.” He noted that the smile vanished from Jack’s face, but tried to keep his own shudders hidden. “Can I have a word with you outside?” He didn’t give Jack a chance to answer before he walked out the door.

 

Swallowing, Jack looked down at Rose who was staring after the Doctor. Forcing a grin, he kissed her very softly and said, “No worries Rose, just a quick chat and then we’ll catch up.” He watched her give him that familiar little smile which said she was worried and uncomfortable. Grinning, he squeezed her hand before stepping out of the TARDIS and closing the door behind him and the Doctor. Stepping away from the time machine, he moved to stand directly in front of the Doctor. Looking the man over, he nodded and calmly said, “Doctor.”

 

“Captain,” the Doctor replied shortly, his hands in the pockets of his overcoat.

 

“Good to see you,” Jack said, not bothering to even fake a smile.

 

The Doctor seemed to share his sentiments and merely nodded as he said, “And you, same as ever although have you had work done?”

 

That was not what he was expecting right from the start. Jack couldn’t quite help the anger that crept into his voice. “You can talk!”

 

The Doctor looked surprised for a moment before nodding to him with a bit of a smile. “Oh yes, the face. Regeneration,” The Doctor shrugged and glanced over at the TARDIS. “Happened on Satellite Five, gave Rose a bit of a turn.”

 

Narrowing his eyes, Jack cut in, “Is that why you abandoned me, Doctor?” Jack glared and his voice hardened more than he meant it to. “You just took off. Leaving me in that death zone.”

 

“Not that simple Jack.” The Doctor’s tone told him that he wasn’t going to get anything more from him.

 

For a moment Jack wanted to argue. He wanted an explanation but knew that he wasn’t going to get it. Not yet at least. Jack looked over at the TARDIS and sighed.

 

“I saw Rose’s name on the list of the dead. I couldn’t find her anywhere new in history,” Jack admitted. He let a little of his grief creep in.

 

“She was in a parallel world, Jack. Only came back seven months ago,” the Doctor filled in, rubbing the back of his neck. “It was supposed to be impossible, but sometimes you get lucky.”

 

Blinking at the Doctor, Jack glanced at the TARDIS and chuckled. The Doctor’s tone was new to him so he couldn’t be certain, but if Rose had found a way back from another universe than just maybe.

 

“So have you two finally gotten your acts together?” he couldn’t help but ask.

 

Jack couldn’t help but smile as the Doctor’s face cleared of emotion and the Time Lord simply said, “Not your business Jack.”

 

“That’s a yes then!” Jack grinned and would have cheered if he wasn’t still angry at the Doctor. “Not sure who I’m more jealous of.”

 

……………………………

 

Rose tapped the controls of the TARDIS and sighed deeply as she glanced at the door. “Who is he?” She turned to Timothy who was staring at the door with an odd tense look.

 

Smiling, Rose sat back in the jump seat and put her chin in her hand. Giving Timothy a reassuring smile, she said, “He used to travel with me and Doctor a long time ago.” Rose paused, “The Doctor told me he was alive, but I didn’t think it was possible.” Seeing the still doubtful look on Timothy’s face, Rose put a hand on his shoulder, “Hey really he’s a friend.”

 

“Then let’s get them and leave,” Rose blinked in surprise at the firmness in Timothy’s voice.

 

Usually, their young partner in crime was ready to try new things, new worlds and find a way to understand them. Today he was acting odd, all of them were acting odd. Jack seemed older and more . . . jaded. His eyes were older and darker than she remembered, more like the Doctor’s eyes now and it worried her. The Doctor hadn’t been surprised by Jack being there and that made her look back at the door. She could feel that something was wrong and couldn’t shake a tiny spark of anger at the Doctor. He must have known that she thought Jack was dead and yet he never mentioned him again, never told her that he was okay or offered to let her see him. Nope, just a brief line that he was rebuilding the Earth in the middle of regeneration was all she ever got. Shaking her head, Rose stood up and walked purposely for the door. Pulling on her coat, she put her hand on the handle but was then stopped by Timothy.

 

“The Doctor said to stay inside,” Timothy shouted behind her.

 

Rose turned to the boy with a sweet and very fake smile. “How long have you been travelling with us, Timothy?” She saw the boy’s nervousness and softened her expression. She shouldn’t take out her anger on Timothy. “I’m sorry Timothy. This isn’t your fault. You shouldn’t have to deal with our personal drama.”

 

Timothy just nodded and said, “Just ask the Doctor if we can leave.”

 

Nodding, Rose gave him another smile and jerked open the door. Taking a deep breath, she stepped out into the cold and shut the door behind her. “Doctor,” she said. “Jack. What’s going on with the two of you?”

 

Sighing, the Doctor turned to look at Rose. She had actually given him longer than he had figured she would. Her eyes darted between the two of them and he was certain that she picked up on the tension. His Rose was clever like that. She spotted the most human of things, but that human emotion had caused this. Glancing over at Jack, he hoped the other man would drop their ‘discussion’ for a bit for Rose’s sake. Jack’s eyes returned to Rose and the Doctor smiled as Jack grinned at her and put an arm around her.

 

“So Rose, how was the other universe?” Jack asked with a grin.

 

Rose smiled up at Jack but kept glancing over at the Doctor. Everything about his stance was tight and closed off. He hadn’t been like that with her since right after he dropped the Family off on the planet to live out the rest of their lives. Focusing on Jack, she shrugged and smiled.

 

“It was alright I suppose, but a bit boring,” Rose answered. She offered her old friend a smile. “Give me the TARDIS over a regular job any day.”

 

“I thought you were dead,” Jack admitted softly.

 

Rose turned and hugged him tightly, ignoring the oddness of the whole situation. “Me too,” she whispered looking over at the Doctor. His shifting of his weight told her that he had heard her. Stepping away from Jack, she forced a small smile.  “Timothy wants to know when we can leave, Doctor.” She looked around at the dark planet and shuddered. “I’ll agree that it is creepy.”

 

“Oh we’ve had worse,” the Doctor reminded her.

 

Rose raised an eyebrow and replied, “Yeah but I don’t go hunting for devils, Doctor.”

 

“Now that sounds like a story,” Jack said from beside her.

 

Rose nodded, but said, “So can we go?”

 

 

The Doctor glanced over at the TARDIS and swallowed, the ship wasn’t too fond of Jack right now. She was exhausted from trying to run from him and had shaken the moment he had stepped inside. He honestly wasn’t sure if the TARDIS would let him take Jack away. Maybe leaving him at the end of time and space was her solution to the problem. Never mind that she had helped in the first place.

 

The Doctor opened his mouth to answer when Timothy slowly stepped outside in his coat. He watched the boy look around and shudder. “Doctor?”

 

“Jack this is Timothy Latimer. Timothy, Jack Harkness.” The boy nodded politely to Jack as the Doctor expected, but then turned back to him. “Can we leave, please?”

 

Taking a deep breath, the Doctor shook his head. “Sorry, but no. That was a long trip, the TARDIS needs a rest. Half an hour tops,” he assured the boy. “Then we can go.”

 

Turning, the Doctor looked around at the landscape, “Might as well have a quick look.” He frowned as Rose nodded and walked past him, ignoring his outstretched hand. Timothy sighed and looked at Jack for a moment before jogging ahead to catch up with Rose. The Doctor tried to ignore Jack stepping up next to him and walking at the same pace.

 

“Nice to know I’m not the only one that happens to,” Jack said with a smirk.

 

The Doctor sighed as Jack pulled ahead of him and joined Rose. Shoving his hands in his pockets, the Doctor watched as Rose talked a bit with Jack. A lump in his throat irritated him as he reminded himself not to care too much. Sadly, he was too emotionally wrapped up in anything to do with Rose Tyler. He had really messed things up this time and now Rose had no fallback. She had no family other than him, no home other the TARDIS and was legally dead. He paused and swallowed at that and corrected himself. Now she had Jack.


	4. Truth at the End of the Universe

Survivors of Gallifrey

By Lumendea

Chapter Four: Truth at the End of the Universe

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and write only for the fun of it.

 

……………………..

 

Shivering under the Doctor’s intense gaze on her back, Rose looked around at the landscape to keep herself occupied. However, there wasn’t much to look at. Even the dramatic geology couldn’t distract her. Everything here was cold and dead, and it didn’t feel like a planet at all. It had no potential left and no chance at being something more to the universe. This world was simply dying. Next to her, Jack smiled softly and squeezed the hand she offered him.

 

He sighed suddenly, catching her attention and said, “I don’t want to cause a fight, Rose.” Jack shook his head and truly looked regretful. “Not now that you two have at least worked things out.” She almost smiled, remembering at how much Jack had wanted her and the Doctor to get their acts together. Nodding, Rose didn’t say anything making Jack frown before he asked, “So uh, what happened?”

 

Sighing, Rose tightened her grip on his hand. “I looked into the TARDIS,” she said softly as she tried to ignore the look on his face. “That way I could fly her back to Satellite Five. I stopped the Daleks.” She shrugged and looked up at him, biting her lip and knowing that her hurt was showing in her eyes. Looking straight ahead, Rose struggled with the unease that his question caused. “Beyond that, I don’t know.” Taking a shaky breath, Rose looked at Jack and forced a smile. “So how have you been?” She watched him force a smile and saw his cautious glance back at the Doctor.

 

“I’ve been in Cardiff,” he replied calmly. “I’ve been waiting for a version of the Doctor who would line up with me. Seen a couple incarnations. I’ll tell you, Rose, that you got one of the cute ones.” Giggling as he winked at her, Rose shook her head. “Had to ignore the temptation to go have fun with myself last time we were there,” Jack added. Honestly laughing now, Rose buried her face in Jack’s arm to muffle her laughter. She felt his arm wrap around her and grinned at him. “How about you Rose? Alternate universes and all that.”

 

Rose pulled away from Jack slightly and sighed as she tried to gather her thoughts. “I wasn’t there by choice Jack. You need to understand that first. It was an accident from when we were stopping the Daleks. Mum is still there, living her life with that world’s Pete. I went back to school, got a degree in physics. Mind you nothing compared to the Doctor, but still I did alright for myself. But I always missed him and the TARDIS.”

 

She noticed Jack’s soft frown as he asked, “How did you get back?”

 

“I encountered a few creatures called the weeping angels,” Rose explained. “They send their victims back in time and eat the energy of the life they would have had. Anyway, they sent me back to 1913 where the Doctor was.” Pausing, Rose examined the lines in Jack’s face. “How long has it been for you?”

 

 

Jack blinked at Rose, but was saved from answering by the Doctor yelling behind them, “You two are so busy blogging you missed something!”

 

Turning around, Jack spotted the Doctor and Timothy at the edge of a cliff behind them looking down at something. Glancing down at Rose, he watched a small sad smile on her face as she looked at the Doctor.

 

Swallowing, Jack brushed her hand with his own and said, “He’s not the most sensitive man in the universe Rose, in any form.” He paused as she looked up at him. “But I refuse to believe that he’d try to hurt you. He’s the Doctor, but he can mess up.”

 

“He hurt you,” she whispered to him. “Jack, I’m so sorry.”

 

The soft defeated tone in her voice almost broke Jack’s heart, but he tilted her chin up and grinned. “My problem gorgeous and he and I,” Jack shrugged. “We’re working on our problems and you work on yours,” he told her gently.

 

Feeling happier as Rose slowly smiled. Jack pushed her toward the Doctor and grinned as she smiled and added, “You’re a great friend Jack.”

 

Winking, Jack nodded and said, “The best.”

 

…………………………

 

The Doctor stared down at the massive network of dwellings below him and Timothy. Next to him, the blond boy asked, “Doctor, is that a city?”

 

“A city or a hive or a nest,” the Doctor looked it over carefully. “Or a conglomeration.”

 

“Are those roads?” Rose asked.

 

Turning his head, the Doctor felt a rush of relief as Rose stepped up next to him and looked up at him with her curious look. The tension in his chest around his hearts eased in an instance. He hadn’t been fully aware of how much seeing her walking with Jack had worried him. His fingers twitched to reach out for her hand, but he stopped himself. Smiling softly, he nodded to her and smiled as she offered him a smile.

 

Timothy’s voice brought him back to the question at hand. “There was life here Doctor, but it is gone.”

 

The Doctor looked over at the boy as Jack stepped up on the other side of Rose. At his side, Rose softly asked, “What killed it?”

 

Shaking his head, the Doctor breathed out sadly, “Time.” He looked over the city sadly. “Just time. Everything is dying now. All the great civilisations have gone.” Pointing up the dark sky to bring his companions’ attention to it, he shivered at the feel of the end around him. Staring up in the darkness, the Doctor said, “This isn’t just night, all the stars have burnt out and faded away. Into nothing.”

 

The warmth of Rose’s hand sliding into his warmed the Doctor more than it should have if it had been any other human. A soft tug drew his attention to her and he nodded as Rose stepped away from Jack and Timothy. His mind focused in on Rose and he allowed himself to forget that they were at the end of the universe. Right now, Rose was being much calmer than he would have thought she’d be and that frightened him. He couldn’t care about the end of the universe when his world was in danger. Walking along, Rose hand fell from his and he shoved his hands back into his pockets and kept moving ahead of Rose.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me he was alive?”

 

The question was no surprise to him and he shrugged as he replied, “I never told you he was dead.”

 

She stopped behind him, leaving his view completely. Halting, the Doctor didn’t even turn around as Rose said, “But you knew I thought he was dead. I asked you to go back for him and you didn’t. You know me well enough to know that I’d assume you were trying to protect me from his death.”

 

Staring ahead at the dark landscape, the Doctor struggled with his answer. “I thought it was easier that way.”

 

He barely hid his flinch as he heard Rose give a soft heartbroken cry. Tightening his fists in his pockets, he looked at the ground and reminded himself over and over again that he was a Time Lord. He couldn’t let himself be compromised more than he already was, but he couldn’t help but feel guilty.

 

 

“Give me a reason,” she whispered behind him, letting him hear the hurt and desperation in her voice. “Please Doctor, at least be honest now.”

 

His eyes fell closed for a moment as he took a deep breath and turned back to her. She was standing straight before him, her eyes dark and serious barely betraying the grief he knew she was feeling. Nodding, the Doctor sighed, gathered his strength. He’d never wanted her to know, but now he had no choice. Well, he did have a choice, but there was a wrong one that could cost him, Rose.

 

“He’s different from the man you knew Rose. That man cannot be killed. That man can’t die, he is immortal in every sense of the word. He’s a fact of time now.” He paused praying she’d find some way to understand without him telling her the part she played in that, “That’s not supposed to happen and it feels all wrong.” Shuddering slightly he added, “It’s not right so I ran from it, my most basic instinct as a Time Lord.” The Doctor looked gestured to the landscape around them, “Even the TARDIS ran from Jack. She ran to the end of the universe to shake him off. Doesn’t mean I don’t care, but just looking at him…” He trailed off and shivered.

 

Rose nodded to him, but he knew she didn’t really understand if she really understood what he was saying she’d be feeling guilty for what she did. Still he expected that she would be angry with him and yet his Rose simply said, “Then you should tell him that Doctor. It’s different from just not caring anymore, not much better, but it is different.”

 

Swallowing hard, the Doctor nodded and Rose sighed in front of him, her eyes showing the pain and years he had added to her life. Swallowing, he looked away from that. Most of the time he could forgive himself for that because she looked happy in spite of it, but today she just looked tired and hurt.

 

He was about to move away when she softly added, “Thing is Doctor I know you’ve been watching me at night.” Freezing, his eyes flew back to her face, but she was the picture of calm while he was certain his face was a mess of emotions. She sighed softly and he another pang of guilt as a deep sadness flashed in her eyes. “And I know why.” She bit her lip to hold back a few tears making his hand twitch with the instinct to comfort her. “I know that I can’t be here for your forever, but you need a hand to hold. You can’t toss those who want to care away, Doctor,” she said sadly, but clearly. “You’ll need them when I’m gone.”

 

He was left for a moment without words, unable to find a way to explain it to her. The woman in front of him brought out parts of him that he had never been aware of. Things he had never been taught and leaving him with no way to vocalise what he really wanted to say. She’d stitched torn up parts of him back together after the Time War just by smiling and caring about him.

 

“It’s not just a hand to hold Rose,” he finally said in a low tone, swallowing back his worries as he gazed at her. “I want it to be your hand.”

 

The words were true and hung in the air between them. The Doctor couldn’t bear to look at her expression, too much fear rising up in him. A level of fear that he had only felt when she lost her grip on the lever when she had hesitated at his regeneration and he had been left wondering if she would leave him. The next moment his Rose answered him without a word, she just slipped her hand into his and he nodded.

 

“I’ll try to explain it to him,” the Doctor promised.

 

She rewarded him with a nod and softly said, “Good.” She was silent and glanced behind them at Jack and Timothy. “Is there anything else I should know?”

 

The Doctor was saved from answering as the sound of screaming and roaring reached them. Spinning to face Jack, the Doctor grabbed Rose’s other hand and yelled, “Captain what is it?!”

 

Jack turned to him with a worried expression and pointed down toward the city. Rushing forward with Rose, the Doctor looked down to see a lone human running from a mob carrying torches. Tightening his grip on Rose’s hand, he yelled, “That looks like a hunt! Come on!”


	5. The Hunted

Survivors of Gallifrey  
By Lumendea  
Chapter Five: The Hunted

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and write only for the fun of it.

……………………..

The four raced along the cliff side and keeping their eyes set on their target down on the low flat lands. The Doctor kept a tight grip on Rose’s hand and helped her stay upright even when she almost slipped on the gravel. A grooved path of some sort of wheeled vehicle served as a path in the low light. Jack laughed loudly.

“Oh I’ve missed this!” he shouted. Rose nearly laughed at the glee in Jack’s voice but kept running. The Doctor and Rose reached the flat area of land first, but it was Jack who caught the terrified and dirty dark haired man. “I’ve got you! I’ve got you.” 

When the man struggled in his arms, Jack handed him off to the Doctor and pulled out his gun as the man screamed and yelled. The pursuers looked human, but there was something feral about their appearance and expressions that made Rose’s body tense.

As Jack pointed the gun toward the hunting party, the Doctor shouted, “Jack, don’t you dare.” 

Turning, to look over at the Doctor, Jack paused and raised the gun to point at the sky. Firing off a shot, he watched as the hoard before them stopped at the noise. Swallowing, Rose looked over the forms of the future kind nervously. 

“What are they?” Rose asked softly.

“There’s more of them,” the strange man shouted. “We’ve got to keep moving!” 

She watched nervously as the Doctor tried to reassure the man. “My ship will be alright. It’s safe,” he told him, “It’s right over there,” the Doctor said. They all turned to look back the way they came and saw another group of the vicious hunters running down the same path. “Maybe not.”

“We’re close to the silo,” the stranger informed them. “If we get to the silo we’re safe.”

Turning to Rose and the others, the Doctor asked, “Silo?” His eyes traced over the hoards moving closer and he grabbed Rose’s hand. 

“Silo,” Jack snapped in agreement and he stepped back in front of Rose. 

The Doctor saw Timothy nod, “Silo sir.” 

At the votes, the strange man took off running in the opposite direction. Turning away from the future kind, the Doctor tightened his grip on Rose’s hand nervously and started to run. The five of them ran past what remained of several machines down the well-worn wheel path. A bright light nearly blinded the Doctor for a moment as a searchlight focused on them.

“It’s the future kind!” the strange man screamed to the men manning the gate only a few yards in front of them, “Open the gate!”

“Show me your teeth!” one of the guards yelled as they reached the high metal gate, “Show me your teeth!” 

Glancing at the stranger in confusion, the Doctor frowned as the man yelled, “Show him your teeth.” Beside him, Rose, Timothy and Jack did as they were told and turning back to the guard sharply the Doctor did the same.

“Human!” The guard yelled suddenly, “Human let them in, let them in.” The heavy gate opened just wide enough for the rest of them to slip inside. “Close it! Close the gate!” The guards threw their weight against the gate and the head guard opened fire on the ground in front of the future kind. Rose took a step back as the future kind growled at them from beyond the gate. “Go back to where you came from,” the head guard said firmly. Trying to relax, Rose looked over at Timothy and frowned at the boy’s pale face. Reaching over, Rose took his hand and gave it a soft squeeze of reassurance.

Giving a soft chuckle without any bit of humour, Jack looked at the Doctor and said, “You don’t tell him to put his gun down.” 

The Doctor turned to him sharply and frowned, “He’s not my responsibility.” 

Trying to ignore the wave of emotion that was an odd mix of relief and anger, Jack smirked. “And I am? That’s a change.” 

Looking away from the Doctor, Jack instead focused on the future kind on the other side of the gate. He felt a chill run through him as they stepped away and left. Glancing at the young boy travelling with the Doctor and Rose, he noted that he was pale and looked sick. Reaching over, Jack steadied the boy as they turned to walk into the compound.

“It’s okay Timothy,” Jack said as kindly as he could manage. 

But the boy looked even more distressed at his touch. Moving his hand, Jack glanced over at the Doctor and Rose, but they were listening to the guards and the man they had rescued talking about something. Wrapped up in their own world as usual. Swallowing, Jack shook his head and stepped away from Timothy. He could handle some unkind thoughts about the Doctor, but Rose.... he didn’t want his hurt taking him there.

…………………….

Moving the piece of wire through his fingers, Yana sighed at the soft hum of the machines around him. He had built all this from nothing and yet it was again nothing. It could not fulfil its purpose and could not grant humanity one last chance. Sighing, he made a few unnecessary adjustments. All of his work meant nothing, now all it was good for was giving a tiny spark of hope to others, but there was no one who could help him or give him hope. He barely heard Chanto moving around the lab, but he could feel her worried eyes on him. Shaking his head, Professor Yana sighed at his struggle. In the old days there had been books on struggles such as his, he supposed that made him the existential hero. 

The loudspeaker overhead pulled him from his thoughts, “Professor, we’ve got five new humans inside.” Looking back at his work, he dismissed the voice, five more humans hardly mattered to his work. “One of them is calling himself a doctor.” 

Blinking, Yana kept cleaning one of the machine parts and inquired, “Of medicine?”

“He says of everything.” 

That confused him for a moment until the meaning set in and then an unfamiliar wave of hope surged through him as he looked at Chanto, “Oh! A scientist! Oh my word,” he nervously handed the parts to Chanto, suddenly unsure of what to do with himself, “I don’t know!” Shouting up to the speaker as he moved for the door, Yana grinned, “I’m coming!”

……………………

Shivering, Rose pulled her light coat more tightly around her as the Doctor talked with one of the men about finding the TARDIS. She was trying to keep from worrying. Her years with the Doctor had taught her that it wouldn’t help. Instead, she took in the sight of the silo and watched the guards and workers move about. 

The young boy helping their new friend caught her attention and she smiled sadly at him speaking and working like an adult. Hard times called for everyone to help, everyone to work together and she couldn’t help but smile at the pride the boy took in being a part of that. The boy directed them into a long hall where the people sat crowded against the walls. Pictures of loved ones were on the walls and the humans were parting to make room for them to pass by. Rose bit her lip at the state of them but swallowed it back as the Doctor took her hand and gave her a smile.

Grinning, the Doctor looked at the humans all around him. “Oh, you humans!” He tightened his grip on Rose’s hand and grinned at him widely, “No matter what you survive!” Shaking his head, he took in the small family units sitting together with a sense of pride in them. “You evolve into all sorts of things, clouds of gas or halenbious downloads, but you always revert back to the same basic shape. The fundamental human.” Swinging his hand and Rose’s he shook his head, “Nothing stops you lot once you start. Not the end of the Earth, not the end of New Earth. Nope, you always find a way. End of the universe and here you are.” Giving a triumphant laugh, the Doctor set his free hand on Timothy’s shoulder and squeezed it. Shaking his head, the Doctor shouted, “Indomitable! That’s the word indomitable!”

Only nodding slightly in agreement with the Doctor, Timothy let himself fall to the last position in the group to look around better. The worried faces made his stomach twist and he briefly thought of home. Frowning, Timothy sighed softly and nodded respectfully to one of the humans. His kin, in an odd way. For all, he knew some of them could be his own descendants. Swallowing painfully, Timothy took a deep breath and tried to hold off the waves of emotions he could feel from them. The universe was dying and taking everything else with it and nothing could change that. Shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans, Timothy found himself saying one of the soft prayers he had been taught by his mother as a child. A flash of guilt went through him as he looked ahead at the Doctor and he sighed. He really shouldn’t be here. He didn’t belong here, not in this place. It was wrong, this place was wrong, that Jack was wrong and his abilities in this place were wrong. 

Sighing in relief, Rose let go of the Doctor's hand to step forward more to watch the family embrace. Smiling, she watched for a moment as the small family unit hugged each other a cried. Not for the first time, Rose felt a pang of longing for her mother as she watched. Fisting her empty hand, she smiled and nodded before turning back to the Doctor. Her eyes found his and she recognised the rare uncertain look in his eyes. Giving him a smile and a nod, Rose silently reassured him. He nodded to her and then she watched him look at the controls for a large heavy door. Next to her, Jack introduced himself with a charming smile to one of the locals which the Doctor quickly put a stop to. 

Grinning, Rose moved next to the Doctor and shook her head. “You’ll never learn Jack,” Rose said warmly.

“Help me with this,” the Doctor told them. 

Giving Rose a small smile, the Doctor hit the door and sighed, “Deadlock seal. You can overwrite the code.” To his pleasure, Jack began working on the door as he ran the sonic screwdriver over the doorframe. They were oddly enough, falling back into step with each other. Swallowing back his shivers, the Doctor finally gave consideration to Jack’s place with them again. He couldn’t leave him without talking to him, Rose had made that clear to him, but what then. The Doctor stopped thinking about it when the door opened. “Let’s see where we are,” he moved forward and nearly fell off the drop. 

Reaching to his side, he grabbed the wall tightly as Jack grabbed him and helped him back into the hall. “I’ve got you,” Jack said to reassure the Doctor.

“Thanks.” He didn’t have to look at Jack to know that the younger man was smirking.

“How did you cope without me?”

They all leaned forward, carefully, to look into the room at the massive ship. It was a classic rocket, only many times larger. Timothy gaped at it and shook his head, “That is amazing.”

“What a rocket,” Jack added with a laugh. Timothy nodded in agreement before looking up at the Doctor

“Then they are passengers,” he said. “They’re going somewhere.”

“Utopia,” Rose said softly, “I heard them talking about a place called Utopia.” 

Blinking, Timothy chuckled and looked at the Doctor in mild confusion. He asked, “What the perfect place. Like More’s Utopia?”

“300 trillion years and the same old dream,” the Doctor told them with a soft smile before looking at Jack. “Do you recognise those engines?”

“No. Whatever it is, it’s not rocket science but it is hot though.”

Rose was happy as they stepped back inside. Her boys were bonding again like they used to over that pan-dimensional surfboard in Cardiff. She smiled softly at them and took the Doctor’s offered hand as they briefly chatted about the ship. They stopped when a shorter, older man with a dignified air and kind face that made her smile walked up. 

Looking at him, as he moved his finger between Jack and the Doctor with a giddy smile before he pointed at Jack, “The Doctor?” 

Jack shook his head and pointed at the Doctor. “That’s me,” the Doctor said with a confused look.

Rose smiled as the man smiled and grabbed the Doctor’s arm, proceeding to lead him away. “Good. Good, good, good, good.” 

Laughing, Rose held onto the Doctor’s other hand and jogged to keep up the older man. Shaking her head, she grinned at the Doctor and said, “Good apparently.” 

The Doctor grinned at her and laughed, “I was about to say that.” 

As the group moved down the hall, one woman on the floor watched them carefully. Her eyes were glassy and clouded even as she focused them on the small group. Opening her mouth to take a deep breath and exhale, she exposed a set on elongated and sharp teeth. Growling softly, she pulled her rags tighter around her and settled back against the wall. Closing her mouth, she hid her teeth and slid back into the shadows.


	6. Kindred Minds

Survivors of Gallifrey

By Lumendea

Chapter Six: Kindred Minds

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and write only for the fun of it.

 

…………………

 

Timothy walked down the corridors of the silo in silence amongst the chatter of the people. There were so many of them, all packed into long lines to board the rocket. Their faces were bright with excitement and relief. They’d been waiting for so long for escape and here it seemed to be. All around him were humans, trillions of years into the future and they looked the same as him. He felt a deep pang in his heart for them, life was dying all around them and they were left clinging to a fragile hope that may not be real. Utopia could be gone when they got there and yet it was what all their dreams were riding on.

 

Professor Yana and the Doctor had been working on the rocket when he told Rose that he was going to see if he could help with anything. It had been odd to see the Doctor react so strongly to someone other than Rose, he was friendly most of the time, but rarely did he take to someone with the intensity that he had with Yana. The Doctor was also so… other. Timothy remembered too clearly his own description of the being: fire and ice. A storm.

 

Still, in an odd way, it reassured Timothy that the Doctor was a good man who could connect with people on the level of a peer. Most people, most species were so far behind him that he didn’t think much of many of the people they met. Rose would give him a look and the Doctor would be polite. There were still moments when he was with the Doctor that he felt a spark of the fear he had first held for the Doctor.

 

Rose knew all about that doubt and fear. Timothy knew that Rose was aware of the darker moments of his past, but most of the time he couldn’t understand how she dealt with it. Half the time, travelling with them was a puzzle of emotions. Earlier he had been sure that something was wrong between them, but they had pulled through. Taking a deep breath and forcing a small smile, Timothy handed out the blankets to the refugees.

 

He found his mind wandering as he looked over their face away from the Doctor, Rose and the new man Jack to other things. Timothy couldn’t help the small flashes of memory of his own family as he looked over the survivors moving in the long lines keeping in their own family units. Sighing softly, he swallowed and shoved away the nostalgia firmly to focus on the issue at hand. A woman brushed past him and Timothy felt a shudder run through him as he saw a flash in his mind. She had run to a ship on another world, wrapped up against the cold and tripping over bodies of the dead. Shaking his head, Timothy took a deep breath and moved down the hall.

 

A man stood up and knocked his shoulder. “Sorry lad,” the man said kindly.

 

Timothy barely heard him. Now he saw a massive fire, he could smell the burning wood and flesh and could taste the ash in his mouth. The air smelled of death and decay. There were screamed and crying. Hopeless sobbing. Shoving past the man, Timothy let the blankets fall to the floor and the people scramble for them as he leaned against the wall breathing. Closing his eyes, he tried to banish the vision from his mind, but a new one appeared and this one was for himself.

 

 

There were mud and wire all around him in the cold night. He was wading through the mud with another man around the bodies of their fallen fellow soldiers. Their feet slipped, but they kept going. He looked at his companion and Timothy realised with surprise that it was Hutchinson from the school. He pulled out a watch, no he pulled out the Doctor’s watch, the one Rose still had shut away someplace in the TARDIS. How? Why? It didn’t make sense.

 

Hearing his own voice without speaking, “It’s almost time.” He looked up into the cloudy dark sky and saw the bomb rushing down at them.

 

Gasping for air, Timothy turned to a dirty older man shaking his shoulder. Concerned the man asked, “Are you alright?”

 

Nodding quickly, Timothy gave a forced smile, “I will be sir. I just need a moment.” The man nodded and turned away getting back into the line for the rocket. Timothy swallowed and looked around at the refugees. “I’ll be fine.” He tried to smile, but couldn’t manage it. His chest was too tight and he wasn’t sure which vision frightened him the most.

 

………………………

 

Slipping down into a chair, Rose did her best to stay out of the way of the Doctor and Yana as they leapt around the rocket’s controls. The Doctor had just pulled his usual brilliance and had managed to get the reverse circuit or whatever it was working. A small smile spread across her face as she watched the Doctor slip into a boyish excitement. Leaning on her hand, she watched his little nods and tiny pieces of conversation with Professor Yana. She looked up as Chantho joined her.

 

“Chan, they are fast friends, tho,” the blue alien said. She gave Rose a soft eager to please smile.

 

Nodding in agreement, Rose smiled up at the sweet insectoid. “Like little boys in the candy store,” she observed. Rose couldn’t help but chuckle at the image.

 

Chantho blinked at her in confusion. “Chan, I do understand the context of that statement, tho.”

 

Pushing some hair behind her ear, Rose reminded herself that the world was dying. Candy stores were probably long gone. “Means they are having a great time,” she explained.

 

She looked back at them as Chantho said, “Chan, Yes.” She added, “I have not seen Professor Yana this happy in a long time, tho.”

 

Nodding, Rose looked over to where Jack was helping them on the side by fixing and adjusting one of the odd machines. He’d always had a good sense for technology and had explained that as a Time Agent you were taught about a lot of different systems just due to the jumping around. She glanced between him and the Doctor, letting a soft sigh escape her lips.

 

“Yeah it is hard to see someone you care about unhappy,” Rose agreed.

 

“Chan, your friends seem happy, tho.”

 

“We’re working on it,” Rose said. “Hopefully we’ll get there.” Rose leaned back and nearly knocked over Jack’s bag. Grabbing it to keep it steady, she frowned as it fell open to reveal the odd hand in a jar. Blinking at it, Rose swallowed and then blinked again. Taking a breath she called, “Jack, may I have a word with you?”

 

He rushed over and she saw the Doctor look over in concern, but she was focusing on Jack. “What is that?” She handed Jack the bag quickly and he set the jar down on the small table carefully. Stepping back with Chantho, Rose blinked at Jack and then recovered from the surprise. Shaking her head, she chuckled. “This is a new thing for you, Jack, I’m pretty sure you didn’t have one of these on the TARDIS.”

 

“That’s my hand,” the Doctor said suddenly, moving in front of her to the jar. “The one I lost in the fight with the Sycorax, do you remember Rose?”

 

“I remember,” Rose said softly as she took his hand. “Hard to forget really.”

 

He grinned at her and looked down at their hands before looking over at Jack. “Why do you have it?” The Doctor asked with a frown.

 

Jack just shrugged at them. “Works well as a Doctor detector.” At the Doctor odd look, he grinned. “How else was I going to know when a version of you that would coincide with me was near? You probably won’t have liked it if I walked into UNIT in 1970.”

 

The Doctor frowned at Jack and could see Rose’s blink of surprise next to him. He braced himself for what would come next. Rose frowned softly and asked, “Are you using a time machine, Jack?”

 

The Doctor gave what he hoped was a pointed look at Jack. The Captain glanced at him and then smiled affectionately. “Not exactly Rose. It has been a bit longer for me than you.”

 

Professor Yana gaped at them, “Time travel?”

 

The Doctor nodded, “Yeah I’ll explain it later, but we should get back to work shouldn’t we Professor.” He grinned and rocked on his feet, “Passengers are boarding. Don’t want to make them wait.”

 

“Oh yes,” the Professor said as he followed the Doctor and Jack back to the controls. “Of course.”

 

…………………………

 

Smiling at the happy faces, Rose walked down the long halls with Chantho and watched as the humans boarded the ship. Tilting her head, Rose took in the joy and excitement around her and crossed her fingers for all of them. “Rose!” She looked around as she heard her name called and grinned as Timothy rejoined her.

 

Pausing, she took in his smudged face and asked, “Timothy are you alright?”

 

“I’m fine,” he replied a bit too quickly for her taste. “It’s just sad here is all.”

 

“Not anymore,” she replied. She searched his face for any clue of what had upset him but found nothing. “Better get back to the Doctor and Professor Yana, Timothy. Tell him I’ll be back as soon as I have the records the Professor needs.”

 

He nodded respectfully to her. “Right.”

 

…………………….

 

The Doctor couldn’t help the small smile on his face as he and the Professor adjusted the controls. This man was brilliant. If Gallifrey had still been around, he would have brought him before the council to be considered for the Academy. It was an odd stray thought that he brushed aside as it didn’t matter, but the man before him was amazing. The word he had used was stellar and he was. It had been a long time since he had felt humbled by another’s intelligence and a long time since he felt a peer on such things. He loved Rose, he did and her empathic way of looking at the universe was a great asset to them, but this . . . this level of understanding with someone else was brilliant. It was humbling, working with this man. He had the weight of his people on his shoulders and had carried it with temperance and strength.

 

The Doctor smiled as Yana calmly took his praise and returned it. He was so human. He was brilliant and brave. “You’d give your life so they could fly,” the Doctor said calmly as he looked at the other man around the controls.

 

“Oh, I think I’m a little too old for Utopia,” Yana told him softly. “Time I had some sleep.”

 

Nodding the Doctor remembered that feeling. Feeling that you had done all you could do and the heavy exhaustion of loss and doubt. He remembered it well. Still, that didn’t mean that everything was truly over. Not just yet.

 

 

……………………..

 

Professor Yana stared at the blue box that the men had brought into his lab. The Doctor had vanished inside the moment it had been set down. This blue box that the Doctor and his friends had so much faith in causing a stirring in his mind. Yana swallowed as the drums sped up in his head. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes to try and hold them off for a little longer. He needed to hold on until the rocket flew until they reached Utopia and then maybe he could let the drums have their way. Yes, soon he could surrender to the constant drumming in his mind and let it be over. He could give into that odd curiosity that he had always possessed and always fought against. Soon the drums would be here and he would know what they meant.

 

He turned his attention to the Doctor who knelt by his side in concern. It touched him oddly, that this strange and amazing man would care so much for an old man. The Doctor had saved him, saved them all. He could let go knowing that the rocket flew, that in the end, it had all meant something.

 

“Still,” he said with a small smile to reassure the Doctor, “No rest for the wicked.”


	7. Immortal

Survivors of Gallifrey

By Lumendea

Chapter Seven: Immortal

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and write only for the fun of it.

 

…………………….

 

The Doctor looked away from the controls as Rose and Chantho reentered the lab. He couldn’t help the smile that appeared on his face as she met his eyes with a small smile on her lips. Okay so things weren’t perfect, but she hadn’t given up on him and that was what was really important. They had gone through too much for him to lose her over one, maybe two tiny mistakes. Watching her, he was reminded of when John Smith would watch her in the library and shook away the thought. Still, he watched her out of the corner of his eye as she handed the circuits over to Jack and Chantho before she walked over to him.

 

The Doctor smiled slightly as she invaded his personal space and leaned in close. “Out to prove you’re impressive?” she teased him in her soft playful tone.

 

Grinning, he looked at her. “I am impressive Miss Tyler and you know it.” She tilted her head and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. He stopped at the soft look that crossed her face as she glanced over at Jack. “I’m working on it Rose,” he said softly making her turn back to him. “Nothing gets fixed that fast.”

 

He supposed after seven months he should have gotten used to a wiser and more mature Rose Tyler, but then she did something that made his right heart beat a little out of time with his left. She smiled and brushed a kiss to the knuckles of his right hands.

 

“I know,” she whispered. “But you can’t carry the universe alone.” She widened her smile into a playful grin to downplay the moment. “And I’m not that strong.”

 

Brushing a finger down her cheek, the Doctor smiled. He knew he wouldn’t be able to keep his sorrow from his eyes. “You’re strong Rose Tyler. Never doubt that. You’ve never given up on me even when you probably should have.”

 

Squeezing his hand, Rose smiled and shrugged. “I love you and let’s face it.” She let go of his hand and gathered up some of the loose parts scattered about. “You need me.”

 

Watching his Rose walk back to Chantho, the Doctor smiled and flushed slightly as Professor Yana caught his eyes. Professor Yana was giving him a small smile and was chuckling. That was normal for him when it was him and Rose, he usually forgot that other people were watching. Rubbing the back of his neck in mild embarrassment, the Doctor turned back to the controls and fitted in the new circuits.

 

 

Professor Yana’s eyes left the Doctor and he chuckled at the display he had just witnessed. He had been cooped up in his lab so long that he had almost forgotten what silly young love looked like. They were sweet, he decided as he rested for a moment, they understood the other and when it came to this mysterious Doctor that was probably the most important thing. A smile tugged at his lips as he watched the Doctor throw himself back into the work of the rocket. His eyes returned to Rose and he flinched as the drumming grew louder for a moment as she turned and smiled at him. A flash of pain in his head made him waver in his chair and he closed his eyes.

 

A warm hand on his made him open his eyes a moment later and he found himself looking into Rose’s large brown eyes. “Professor Yana?” she questioned softly, but he just patted her hand with his other and smiled.

 

Tightening his grasp on her hand, he nodded to her. “I’m fine my dear girl. Just tired.” As she opened her mouth to speak, he shook his head. “And no, I will not rest,” he said sternly.

 

“Seeing it through then,” Rose said in understanding. She glanced at the TARDIS and smiled. “Promise me then once they are off that you’ll rest while we take you to Utopia.”

 

Softening at her understanding, he nodded. “Agreed.”

 

Nodding, Rose stood up again off of her knees and offered him a hand up. Taking her hand gratefully, he let the young woman help him to his feet.

 

Chuckling, he stepped forward and sighed, “Rose, I do not recommend getting old.” She laughed and he smiled at the refreshing sound that had been rare for so long. Chantho while she was a good friend, rarely laughed or diverted from the manners of her people. Reaching a set of controls, he nodded to Rose and looked toward the door, “Looks like your young friend has returned.”

 

Timothy glanced at Jack and the Doctor as he reentered the lab. Rose turned to him with a smile, but he noticed worry flood her face. Rushing over, she put a hand to his face, “Tim, are you alright?”

 

“Just tired, Rose,” Timothy assured her. He looked past her and sighed in relief as he stopped the TARDIS, “I’ve never been so glad to see the TARDIS.” He noticed Rose nod, but she did not release his should. Looking up at her Timothy smiled. “I’m fine really. It’s just hard seeing so many humans like this.”

 

She nodded to him in understanding and gave him the soft smile he had come to know. “I know,” she said softly. Rose glanced over at the Doctor and Jack and said, “Tell you what Tim, I’m going to go check and make sure that everyone is on board.” She looked back at him, “Stay here and tell the Doctor when he gets around to noticing.”

 

Chuckling, Timothy nodded to Rose and watched as she quickly left the lab. No doubt she was going off to spread around that smile of hers. Rose had a talent for endearing herself to other people and it made him smile whenever the Doctor was irritated by it. Looking back at the Doctor and Jack, Timothy took a deep breath to calm himself and stood back to watch them move about the room. They hadn’t seemed to notice that they were moving in synch with each other, a silent understanding that Timothy found comforting. On a Time Lord and psychic level, Jack may bother the Doctor as much as he bothered him, but on an emotional level, he enjoyed the man’s company. No wonder things were so tense between them and Rose right now. Sighing, Timothy rubbed his eyes and moved over to the sitting area, deciding that it was best if he kept out of the way.

 

…………………………..

 

 

Yana sighed in frustration as he received static on the comm. He eagerly told Atillo, “I’m here! We’re ready! Now all you need to do is connect the couplings. Then we can launch.” He growled as the picture went out again, “Oh this equipment!”

 

The lad, Timothy, rushed up behind him, “Is there anything I can do sir?” Professor Yana blinked at the boy and then moved out of the chair while nodding.

 

“Yes just press the reboot key.” Seeing the boy’s confused look, Yana pointed to it and said, “Press this button anytime the picture goes out.”  Nodding, Timothy took Professor Yana’s place in front of the computer, tapping the key as he settled in and smiled slightly as the image returned. Yana gripped his shoulder, “Good lad.” Timothy blinked as a soft drumming echoed in his ears, but it was gone when Yana released his shoulder.

 

Atillo’s face reappeared on the screen. “Professor Yana, are you there?” Atillo asked urgently.

 

“Ah present and correct,” Yana said leaning over his shoulder to speak with Atillo. “Send your man inside. We’ll keep the levels down from here.” Timothy stared at the screen as the view changed and shuddered as Yana set a hand on his shoulder again to stay steady. Biting his lip, Timothy swallowed and forced his fingers not to tap out the drumming.

 

………………………….

 

Shifting against the internal wall of the rocket, Rose held her arms over the small brunette girl she had been buckling in as the silo shifted. It was stable a moment later and she heard the passengers begin speaking in excited tones. Frowning, Rose looked around and nodded seeing that everyone was alright. Giving the little girl a soft smile, Rose turned back toward the door and rushed out of the rocket. One of the guards called for her on the other end of the platform. Nodding, she nodded past him and closed the door as he boarded the rocket. Pausing, Rose looked up and down the corridors with a frown. That shaking hadn’t been the rocket, it had been something else and given that she and the Doctor were here it probably wasn’t good.

 

…………………………….

 

Rushing about the lab, Jack tried desperately to find a way to regain control of the levels, “We’ve lost control!” He tried to open the vents but the override programs couldn’t move fast enough. Without really thinking, Jack lunged for the heavy cables.

 

“We can jump start the override!” Jack shouted.

 

He pressed the two cables together and then yelled. The pain was only for an instant, but he thought he heard the Doctor yell in concern and that made him wish he could smile. He couldn’t. Even knowing he’d come back, it still hurt.

 

 

Timothy frowned and swallowed as the Doctor calmly watched Jack on the floor. His face betrayed no worry or emotion even as Chantho leaned over him.

 

“I’m so sorry,” Yana said beside Timothy. “And it was all for nothing.”

 

“Oh I don’t know,” Timothy heard the Doctor say with a light tone, as he looked at Jack’s fallen form. “Seems to me Professor that you have a room no man can enter without dying is that correct?” Timothy gaped at the Doctor in confusion as he calmly watched Yana nod. A sharp gasp from the floor made Timothy spin to look at Jack. The man’s eyes snapped open as he took in several deep breaths. Jumping back, Timothy backed away from Jack carefully and almost tripped on the cables. He barely heard the Doctor say, “I think I’ve got just the man.”

 

They ran. Jack and the Doctor didn’t bother looking at each other as they rushed to the base of the rocket. Right now it didn’t matter, but both their brains were turning over every detail and every tiny event. The Doctor knew that soon he’d have to answer all the questions he had run from and that he’d have to face up to his own weaknesses. Jack Harkness was hurt and confused even as he couldn’t shake the need to do whatever he could to help. Part of him wanted to stop and make the Doctor explain it all now, but the human in him reject the idea. That strong human need to help while he could wouldn’t let him stop just yet and so they ran.

 

……………………..

 

Rose coughed as she stumbled into the smoking area and pulled her hair back from her face. A few guards were pulling away a woman’s body. One of them looked up at Rose sharply. “You should be on the rocket ma’am,” they said.

 

“I’m with the Doctor and Professor Yana,” she replied. Rose stepped forward and looked down at the woman. Her eyes travelled up to the destroyed electrical boxes and she softly inquired “What happened?”

 

“A future kind,” one of the men answered. He pulled open the woman’s mouth to show her sharp pointed teeth. “Damaged the systems.” Rose looked around at their faces which were now lowered with traces of anger and defeat.

 

“Get on the rocket,” Rose said firmly, “You’ve done all you can and need to do. Leave the rest of it to the Doctor and the Professor.” One of the men blinked at her, but Rose calmly raised her chin and smirked. “We’re not done yet so don’t even think it.”

 

The dirt-covered man smiled a bit and nodded. “Yes ma’am”

 

She gave herself a moment to watch them all board the rocket before she turned back toward the lab. Once she was out of sight, Rose broke into a run and bit her lip. She had an odd sinking feeling in her stomach. It was similar to the one she had felt when the Doctor had told her that a ‘storm was coming.’ Turning the corner, Rose couldn’t get to the lab fast enough.


	8. Truthful if you Dare

Survivors of Gallifrey

By Lumendea

Chapter Eight: Truthful if you Dare

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and write only for the fun of it.

 

…………………………….

 

Ignoring the Doctor’s words to Atillo, Jack began pulling off his shirt and placed it on the controls in front of him. He had died twice today and that shirt was still intact, a lucky shirt that one. Fixing his suspenders, he took a breath to prepare himself.

 

“What are you taking your clothes off for?” the Doctor asked.

 

Giving him a look, Jack tucked in his undershirt. “I’m going in.”

 

In typical Doctor fashion that made Jack want to laugh, the Doctor looked over at the door to the room. “From what I can tell to Stet radiation doesn’t affect clothing, only flesh,” the Doctor informed him.

 

“Well, I look good through.” He moved past the Doctor but stopped at the door. His need for the truth was too strong. He had waited for over a century to see his Doctor again. He had watched other Doctors pass by over the years. The older one with the odd yellow car, the one with the long scarf, the one in the brightly coloured coat and he had stayed away. He couldn’t stay away now, so he turned back and asked, “How long have you known.”

 

Then, this Doctor turned back to him and with a blank face simply said, “Even since I ran away from you.” The Doctor paused and nodded towards the door. “Good luck.”

 

The Doctor watched Jack duck into the room and listened for the latching of the door before he moved forward. The nagging in the back of his mind and the impulse to return to the TARDIS and leave was still strong, but he held it back. It almost made him want to laugh, even after all their superiority breeding and genetic alterations to evolve into the prime species of the universe, deep down in his DNA there was still a fight or flight response. Oh if the other Time Lords could see him now, course they’d blame him that it happened in the first place, but maybe they’d be able to help Jack.

 

“Doctor, are you there?” Timothy’s voice called him back to the present moment. “We’ve lost the picture.”

 

“Receiving you, Timothy,” the Doctor answered. “He’s inside.”

 

He heard the pause in Timothy’s voice. “Still alive?” the boy finally asked.

 

Nodding, the Doctor leaned against the door. “Oh yes.” He heard Yana make a comment in the background, but they moved away from the speaker so he could only hear parts of the conversation. He picked up on Timothy telling Professor Yana something about the TARDIS but dismissed it to keep an eye on Jack. Watching him through the small window, the Doctor asked, “When did you realise it?”

 

 

Jack looked up at him quickly even as his fingers kept moving. “Earth, 1892. I got in a fight on Ellis Island.” He glanced up at the Doctor, “Man shot me through the heart, then I woke up.” Searching the Doctor’s face, Jack looked for something other than the haunting calm. He didn’t know what he wanted the Doctor to feel, but he wanted him to feel something dammit. Anything to let him know that the two people he had once loved above all others hadn’t really just dismissed his life. The Doctor merely raised an eyebrow so he continued, “Thought it was kind of strange, but it never stopped. Fell off a cliff, trampled by horses, World War One, World War Two, poison, starvation, a stray javelin.” The Doctor flinched with him on that one, which made him smile a little. At least he was listening and in an odd way, laying it out and telling him was soothing. It wasn’t fixing the problem, but he had never told anyone, not even Gwen or Ianto the entirety of his story.

 

“In the end,” Jack swallowed as he fought with the couplings, “I got the message. I’m the man who can never die.” Looking straight at the Doctor, Jack welcomed the flush of anger in his system. Anger made things easier, you could direct it at someone else and at least, for a while, it made you feel a bit better. “And all that time you knew.”

 

The Doctor didn’t seem put off so Jack looked back at his work. “That’s why I left you behind,” the Doctor said with a matter of fact tone. “It’s not easy.” Jack risked looked up at him. “Just looking at you Jack cause you’re wrong.”

 

Grimacing, Jack couldn’t do anything but hiss, “Thanks.”

 

To his anger, the Doctor just shrugged and looked away even as Jack felt the rise of sorrow in him. The Doctor wasn’t done to both his relief and anger. “You are I can’t help it,” Jack listened to his soft justification with a tiny smile. At least the Doctor knew he hadn’t deserved it, at least he hadn’t enjoyed it or planned it or any of the other nightmares his brain had come up with over the years. “I’m a Time Lord,” the Doctor said. “It’s instinct. It’s in my guts. You’re a fixed point in time and space, you’re a fact and that’s never meant to happen.”

 

Looking back at his work, Jack took in the Doctor’s answer. He had known, of course, he had known for years that he couldn’t die, but hearing the Doctor say it with such certainty shook him deeply. “Even the TARDIS reacted against you and tried to shake you off,” the Doctor suddenly added before sighing, “She flew all the way to the end of the universe just to try and get rid of you.”

 

Jack couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him as he finished one of the couplings. “So what you’re saying is you’re prejudice.” He smiled at the chuckle that escaped the Doctor.

 

“I never thought of it like that.”

 

“Shame on you,” Jack remarked with a cheeky smirk.

 

The Doctor nodded to him in agreement and sighed, “I’m not handling this well am I?” Jack blinked at the change in the conversation. The Doctor just kept talking, “Rose was right I’m not good at this. I never have been, but things...” He sighed and shook his head, “Things are so different now.”

 

Tightening his grip on the coupling, Jack asked, “With Rose you mean?”

 

“It’s more than that Jack,” the Doctor shook his head. “The more time that passes since the Time War the more it sinks in that it is just me.”

 

 

Yana stared straight ahead at the TARDIS as the conversation between the Doctor and Jack continued, “The last thing I remember, back on Satellite Five when I was mortal, I was facing three Daleks.” He blinked and fought to breathe as the word Dalek echoed in his mind along with TARDIS, travels in time and space and Time Lord. His eyes fluttered shut as he took another laboured breath. The drumming was growing closer and closer, it was deafening now and speeding up with every word uttered by the Doctor. That man was bringing them closer, he was calling them nearer and nearer. “Death by extermination and then I came back to life,” Yana heard Jack say and the word extermination joined the drums, “What happened?” There was silence for a moment, but Yana could not look away from the TARDIS.

 

“Timothy is Rose there?” Timothy blinked at the Doctor’s question and hit the reboot key to clear the sound. He had been so deep in thought, listening to the conversation and wondering that he had almost missed the Doctor’s question.

 

Shaking his head out of habit, he answered, “No Doctor. She’s still not back, but Yana got a report that she was on the fourth level.”

 

“What does Rose have to do with it?” Jack asked from inside the room. Timothy frowned as he heard the man’s heavy breathing.

 

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck. “She did it, Jack.” He looked at his old friend’s wide eyes. “I sent her home, but she came back,” the Doctor explained. “Opened the Heart of the TARDIS and absorbed the Time Vortex itself. No one is meant to have that kind of power. If a Time Lord did that he’d become a God, a vengeful God, but she was human.” Against his wishes, a tiny smile tugged at his lips as he thought of her on that station and even now, helping the humans board the rocket. “Everything she did was so human. You were dead so she brought you back,” the Doctor shook his head and swallowed the regret he had for that day. “She couldn’t control it, Jack. She didn’t just bring you back, she brought you back forever.” He stopped and chuckled, looking toward Jack. “Bad Wolf was her Jack. She left those messages all through time and space to lead her to opening the TARDIS. A perfect self-fulfilling prophecy. That’s how she got back to this universe too. Bad Wolf left a way for her to get back to me.” Looking back into the room, the Doctor let his eyes meet Jack’s.

 

“Does she know?” Jack asked and the Doctor nodded.

 

“I told her you can’t die, but I don’t think it has really settled into her yet,” he caught Jack’s look and sighed. “She knows bit and pieces of what she did, but no, she doesn’t know she’s the reason that you can’t die. I took the power out of her to keep it from killing her, but it also didn’t leave any memories.”

 

“Keep it that way,” Jack told him suddenly. The Doctor blinked at him through the window. “She doesn’t need that kind of guilt.” The Doctor was silent and watched as Jack pulled on the controls, “You and me, we can handle some of that darkness, but I don’t want that for Rose any more than you do.”

 

A sad smile crossed the Doctor’s lips and he felt another pang of guilt. His mind drifted back to Rose’s earlier words about casting away people who cared. Putting more of his weight against the door, the Doctor sighed heavily.

 

“I haven’t been much a friend to you, Jack,” the Doctor said. He was surprised at the regret that came through in his voice. The Captain had stopped his work in surprise and was looking at him. Swallowing, the Doctor looked away. “Rose is right. I can’t do that, I can’t let her be my entire world. I’m going to lose her again someday and it’s not fair to put the burden of holding me in check on her. Today the two are you are dealing with my choices and that’s not fair.”

 

 

Jack laughed, a deep laugh that surprised both him and the Doctor as he teased, “Don’t do domestic, eh Doctor?” He shook his head and started on his work again. The odd bubble of relief in him cancelled out most of the pain. “I live in one place and time and I’m less domestic than you.”

 

He watched the Doctor’s lips quirk. “I’m sorry,” the Doctor told him suddenly. Jack’s eyes widened and he gaped at the Doctor. The Time Lord was serious and the regret in his eyes made him nod solemnly.

 

With no teasing and no jokes, Jack nodded. “I know.” He just looked at the Doctor for a long moment and to his own surprise said, “And I forgive you. I don’t like what you did.” Jack stared at the Doctor. “But a part of me can understand it.” Jack chuckled and dropped his eyes back to the couplings. “Bringing life and hope, that’s our Rose in a nutshell.”

 

“Yeah,” the Doctor agreed. “The final act of the Time War was life.”

 

Timothy sighed and leaned back from the screen. Turning to speak to the Professor, he froze as he caught sight of a very pale Rose Tyler behind him. Professor Yana was looking at her oddly and Rose had dropped the bundles in her arms.

 

Swallowing, Timothy stood from the computer and nervously asked, “How much did you hear?” She looked at him sharply and turned toward the TARDIS. As she vanished inside, Timothy breathed out and said, “Too much then.”


	9. The Watch

Survivors of Gallifrey

By Lumendea

Chapter Nine: The Watch

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and write only for the fun of it.

 

………………………….

 

The Doctor rolled his head to look over at Jack. He debated the question for only a moment. “Do you want to die?” the Doctor asked. He watched Jack groan and pull hard on the coupling.

 

“This one is a little stuck,” his former companion said to avoid the question.

 

“Jack,” the Doctor called. There was a note of warning in his voice.

 

The other man looked over at him, panting from the radiation. “I thought I did,” Jack admitted. “I don’t know.” A small smile appeared on his face. “But this lot you see them out here surviving,” a grin took over both his and the Doctor’s faces, “And that is fantastic.”

 

“You might be out there somewhere,” the Doctor teased suddenly.

 

Jack straightened up and tossed him a grin which filled him with relief. Before he started work on the last coupling, Jack remarked, “I could go meet myself,”

 

“Well, only man you’re ever going to be happy with.”

 

The Doctor smiled as Jack laughed. “This new regeneration,” Jack teased, “Kind of cheeky.”

 

…………………..

 

Rose leaned against the wall of the hallway, gasping for air as she let the tears run down her face. She slammed her head back against the wall in anger and punched the wall before letting herself slip to the floor. For years she had taken it for granted that the Doctor had fixed the problem. For years when he told her something was taken care of she had accepted that answer. Pulling her knees against her chest, Rose felt so foolish and childish. Shaking her head, she wiped the tears away and leaned her head back. It was so hard to breathe, so hard to focus and part of her wished she could remember being Bad Wolf. She had seen to the safety of the Doctor and had even planned a way back to her home universe. The Bad Wolf had given her a chance at a happy life with the Doctor but had doomed Jack. It made no sense, but since she couldn’t remember, she couldn’t see if there was a reason.

 

 

With everything in her, Rose wanted a reason, needed a reason as to why she would do something like that to someone she loved. Jack was family, an odd family member, but none the less she loved him. Surely if she could leave clues even in another universe, she should have been able to control it. Swallowing her tears, Rose took a deep and shaky breath and pulled herself back up. Wandering into the control room, she looked out the ajar door at Professor Yana. Leaning against the console, she frowned as she noticed his vacate stare toward the TARDIS. Brushing away the last of her tears, Rose was grateful that she no longer wore large amounts of makeup.

 

Putting on a smile, Rose stepped back outside and took hold of Professor Yana’s hand. “Professor, are you alright?” she asked.

 

She almost jumped back when he looked up at her sharply. “Is it all true?” Yana frantically demanded.

 

Rose didn’t know what to say to his heartbroken tone so she merely nodded. Giving him a soft smile, she tightened her grip on his hand. “Come on Professor Yana. Step inside the TARDIS and I’ll make you a nice fresh cuppa.”

 

He shook his head and sighed, “Time travel.” He laughed bitterly, drawing Timothy’s attention, but Rose doubted the Professor noticed. Shaking his head, he pulled something from his pocket. “I never could keep time. Always late, always lost.”

 

Rose shook her head and held onto his free hand, she didn’t dare look away from his face. “We’re both not having the best of days are we?” She managed a smile for him when he looked down at her, “Both of us finding out stuff that will complicate matters.”

 

Professor Yana stared at the sad woman in front of him and nodded. He set the old watch down on the table, ignoring it. Silly thing had never worked in all the time he had owned it, his whole life and nothing. Taking Rose’s other hand, he gave it a comforting squeeze, “Perhaps we both need a cuppa Rose.” He glanced over at Chantho and asked, “Will you be alright for a few minutes?”

 

His assistant gave what looked like a grateful smile to Rose. “Chan yes Professor, please go and rest tho,” Chantho answered.

 

He looked back at Rose as she walked over and picked up the hand in a jar. End of the universe or not, Rose didn’t want to forget Time Lord DNA here. She smiled at him and held out her free hand for his. Nodding, Professor Yana let Rose Tyler led him into the TARDIS.

 

……………………

 

Timothy frowned as Chantho returned to the screen and Rose and the Professor moved into the TARDIS. Rose had been so focused on helping the Professor she hadn’t bothered to look at the watch in his hand. Creeping forward, Timothy shivered as he heard voices from the old golden toned watch. It was so familiar and yet so different. Gasping for air, Timothy brushed the watch with his fingertips but lashed back as if burned. Hate and anger, devastation and malice like Timothy had never even seen in nightmares radiated in his mind. Grabbing another table to stay upright, Timothy stared at the watch in fearful silence.

 

‘I am the Master, release my might back into the universe so that I might destroy my enemy’.

 

“Chan, is everything alright, tho?”

 

The voice startled Timothy and he turned to look at Chantho. Her face was tight in concern. Timothy managed a weak smile and nod. Glancing at the watch, he swallowed and looked back to Chantho.

 

“I’ve got to talk to the Doctor. I’ll be back,” Timothy said quickly. He turned away and rushed from the room leaving Chantho standing alone amongst all the equipment. She tilted her head and frowned as her eyes moved toward the watch laying abandoned on the table.

 

 

Timothy rushed down the hall, his mind trying to throw off the memory of the Master. The hatred and anger he had felt radiating from that being scared him to death. There was no doubt in his mind that it was like the Doctor’s watch, it was hiding a Time Lord only this one deserved his fear. Where the Doctor had felt love, the Master felt hate and was angry at the world. Swallowing, Timothy told himself to keep moving and wished he had been strong enough to bring the watch with him, but he didn’t dare touch it again.

 

He felt sick at the thought of it. Panting, he almost collided with Jack who quickly asked, “What wrong Tim?”

 

“The Master.” Timothy gasped as the Doctor flipped some controls. The Doctor stopped and spun toward him, a blank expression on his face.

 

The Doctor looked at his frightened companion and stepped forward. “What did you say, Timothy?” He stared hard at the boy while he caught his breath. “Jack, finish the launch,” the Doctor snapped.

 

He heard Jack in the background while Timothy looked up at him and said, “Professor Yana has a watch, Doctor. It is just like the one you used to become John Smith! But when I touched it, I heard a man who called himself the Master.”

 

The Doctor could feel his hearts stop and a cold rush of fear. Shaking his head, he leaned over and flipped another switch. “Can’t be,” he hissed. “The Time Lords were all destroyed and he was long dead years ago.”

 

“Are you sure?” Jack asked rushing past him to another machine. “End of the universe is the perfect place to hide.”

 

“Yes!” he snapped, harsher than he meant to. “The Master was my greatest enemy, my rival and my foe. I watched him die.”

 

“Doctor,” he turned toward the soft voice of Timothy. The boy straightened up and confidently said, “Whoever is in that watch Doctor, knows that you are here and they hate you.” Swallowing, the Doctor nodded to Timothy but his mind was racing in a mix of relief, fear and anger.

 

“Where is the watch?” Timothy didn’t reply at first. The emotions choked the Doctor, twisting around him and tightening their hold. Leaning forward, he grabbed the boy’s arms and yelled, “Where is the watch?!”

 

He watched the boy fearfully reply, “Back in the lab.” Timothy swallowed and tried to explain, “I could barely stand to touch it the once. Yana left it on a table in the lab.”

 

“And where is Yana?” The Doctor asked in a low tone, “Where is he, Timothy.”

 

“In the TARDIS,” Timothy whispered. Horror filled his chest. “With Rose.”

 

……………………

 

Chantho frowned as she picked up the watch and looked after Timothy. The boy had rushed out as if frightened, but how could anyone be frightened of such a little thing. Shaking her head, Chantho glanced over at the TARDIS and looked down at the watch. Smiling softly, she cupped the watch and walked toward the TARDIS. Leaning to look in, she gasped at the massive control room and backed away.

 

“Professor?” she called. “Professor Yana?”

 

Professor Yana looked up from his cup of tea and smiled at Rose who was seated on the other side of the table. He had so many questions for the girl, so many things he wanted to ask her, but he could see that she was as tired as he was. Pausing, Yana tilted his head and heard Chantho soft call. Turning back to Rose, he set down his mug and smiled.

 

“It seems I am needed,” Yana said calmly. He stood up slowly and watched for a moment as Rose took the mugs to the sink. “Thank you, my dear.”

 

 

“Of course,” Rose said warmly. “I’ll be out in a moment.” Nodding, Professor Yana turned from her and returned to the main hall. “Go left two doors down and that will take you back to the control room,” Rose called to him. Chuckling, Yana walked back toward the control room.

 

Chantho sighed and backed away from the TARDIS. Turning the watch over in her hand, she sighed and ran a finger over it. Glancing up she giggled and looked down at the watch. Looking around, she smiled and set her finger on the clasp. Suddenly the room shook as the rocket launched and Chantho gasped as she was almost thrown to the floor. The watch fell from her hand, her fingers releasing the clasp and landed on the floor open. Chantho gasped and covered her eyes as a golden light filled the room and reached for the TARDIS. She smiled as Professor Yana stepped out with a confused look on his face.

 

“Chan, Professor Yana, tho!”

 

Professor Yana froze suddenly and she gasped in fear as the golden glow surrounded him. The temperature in the room changed and terror gripped her.

 

………………………

 

The Doctor halted in his running as the presence of another Time Lord flooded through his mind. After the long silence, he couldn’t help, but welcome it even as he felt the oily mind of his enemy and rival the Master. He barely felt Jack’s hand on his arm in concern. Shaking his head, the Doctor pulled himself together.

 

“Run!” he shouted to Timothy and Jack. A door slammed in front of them and the Doctor gasped in alarm. “Get it open!” He screamed at Jack who attacked the control pad, “Get it open!”

 

Chantho drew back in fear as the man who looked like her Professor moved about the controls with confidence and determination. His appearance was right, but everything else was wrong. The way he stood, the way he walked and the way he spoke.

 

“Chan, you’ve locked them in, tho,” she said softly.

 

“Don’t worry my dear,” he replied as he pulled on another lever, “As one door closes another must open.”

 

She gasped in fear and tried to dissuade him as he lowered the defences of the silo. Tears ran down her cheeks as a void reappeared in her that she had no felt since the deaths of all her kind. Moving to the other end of the room, she pulled out the emergency use weapon the Professor had brought to the room seventeen years ago.

 

Holding it in shaking hands, she tried one last time. “Chan, Professor please stop, tho,” she begged.

 

He looked at her and the gun and pulled on the sparking electrical cable. The Master smiled and said, “Oh, now I can say I was provoked.”

 

The future kind burst through the silo gates and rushed for the building. The doors opened to allow them access into the depths of the base. They snarled as they entered one hall and spotted two men and a lad. The Doctor, Jack and Timothy suddenly stopped and changed directions. The future kind roared in the thrill of the hunt and set in pursuit.

 

Chantho backed away, sobbing softly as the man approached her with the sparking cable. Cruelty and death filled his eyes and filled her with fear. Gasping for air, she slid back until she had nowhere left to go. Softly she gasped out her question, “Chan, then who are you, tho?”

 

“I am the Master.”


	10. Valiant Child

Survivors of Gallifrey

By Lumendea

Chapter Ten: Valiant Child

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and write only for the fun of it.

 

AN: Okay ten chapters down and we are finally through Utopia. I warn you, this chapter contains a lot of violence of the pub brawl sort.

 

……………………………….

 

“Let us in!” The Doctor yelled into the lab as he and Jack desperately struggled to open the door.

“Professor,” he shouted. The Doctor grew increasingly panicked as the future kind closed in on them. “Rose!”

 

The Master glanced at the door and chuckled as he removed the guidance chip for Utopia and put it into his pocket. Leaning over Chantho’s corpse, he fingered the gun and frowned. Picking it up, he kept it in his hand and welcomed the weight of a deadly weapon as he heard the Doctor shouting. He savoured it for a moment, the fear in his voice, the desperation and his own satisfaction at having the Doctor so cornered. A million memories surged through his brain: their old academy days, the Autons, the Death Zone and all their battles over many regenerations.

 

The Master allowed himself only a brief moment of memory before turning to the plan that was falling into place in his mind. Disconnecting the cables running between the TARDIS and the machines, the Master stepped into the TARDIS and breathed in the smell of time that hung on the machine’s controls. Only he and the Doctor could smell it, only they could savour it and now he would take it. Looking back over his shoulder as he heard the outer door open, his eyes met the Doctor’s and they both stopped. Smirking at the Doctor’s horrified face, he shut the TARDIS door securely and locked it.

 

Rose frowned as she stopped moving in the hall and listened. The TARDIS door had just shut, she had been returning to the control room when she heard the thud of it slamming. Taking a deep breath and preparing herself to face the Doctor, Rose kept walking toward the console room. Blinking in surprise when she found Professor Yana, Rose glanced around for the Doctor.

 

“Professor Yana, what is going on?”

 

He turned to her and gave her a warm smile, but somehow it was different from before. Rose stopped and looked at him carefully, trying to put her finger on what was different. For a moment neither of them moved.

 

“Ah my dear, Rose.” His small smile shifted into a smirk as he reached down and pushed the comm button. Rose gasped as she heard the Doctor screaming for him to let them in. She moved for the door until Yana pulled a gun out and pointed it at her. Shaking his head, he softly said, “I’m sorry my dear, but I rather like the idea of the Doctor dying at the end of the universe while I run off with his TARDIS and his human love.”

 

He looked away from her for a moment to adjust the controls, but it was all Rose needed.

Lunging forward, Rose knocked the gun out of his hands and grabbed it off the floor. She could feel her heart beat in her ears and the familiar adrenaline in her system. Desperation and fear clouded her entire mind and the odd itching in her eyes made it hard to focus on Professor Yana. Pointing the gun at him with a steady hand, she backed toward the door to open it with slow movements.

 

“Don’t move Professor!”

 

Rose risked glancing for the lock. He snarled at her and hit one of the TARDIS buttons making the ship shake without lifting off. Rose fell to the side, grabbing onto one of the rails as she reached for the lock. The gun fell to the floor and she grabbed desperately for the lock to let the Doctor. Both she and the Master were so distracted they barely noticed the gun slide to the side and become wedged near the door.

 

“I’m begging you everything has changed!” the Doctor shouted to the Master as Timothy and Jack struggled behind him to out the future kind. He couldn’t see them, couldn’t hear them, even as his mind was aware of them. Right now, they simply didn’t register as every part of his brain was geared to trying to find a solution. He was the Doctor, he could do anything and he could stop this before it got worse. He had to. “It’s just the two of us now!” The Doctor’s mouth was dry from fear, Rose was in the TARDIS. Rose was in the TARDIS with the Master. The Master knew about them. These thoughts keep repeating and repeating in his mind, filling him with fear. “Master please,” he yelled using his foe’s name. “Please let me in!”

 

The Master turned to the controls and hit the other locking system as Rose struggled with it. “It won’t open now,” he hissed to her. He watched in satisfaction as she turned to him.

 

“Open it and let me out,” Rose demanded. “Just let me out.”

 

“The Futurekind are out there, my dear.”

 

Rose raised her chin defiantly. “Better them than you.”

 

The Master shook his head and said, “Oh my dear Rose, I wouldn’t worry so much.” He began setting in a flight for the TARDIS. “The Doctor does have a gift for finding his way out of trouble. My plans include him. Now be a good little companion and stay quiet.”

 

Rose frowned as Yana looked over the TARDIS controls. Her eyes traced the area near the door in search of the gun. Reaching up, she tried to the lock again, but it still wouldn’t open. Then her eyes found the gun, wedged under one of the ramp supports. Silently, she picked up the gun from the floor and pointed it up at Yana.

 

“Open the door,” she said calmly. “Open the door or I’ll shoot.”

 

He chuckled and softly said, “Oddly enough, I believe you. Not a trait I would have thought the Doctor would be attracted to.” Yana turned to her and moved in front of the controls. “It is sad how far my fellow Time Lord has fallen. A human child. If he hadn’t been thrown out of Gallifrey long ago, this would have put him back into exile,” the Master taunted. His gaze intensified and shifted from mocking to a dark curiosity. “So tell me.” He stepped forward with a wild look in his eyes. “What did it feel like when you took in the Time Vortex.” He moved closer to her and grinned madly. “Tell me, tell the Master what it felt like,” the Master pressed. “Did you hear the drums?”

 

Rose stared at him in shock, the look in his eyes frightening her down the core as he approached her with no fear of the gun. “Tell me!”

 

He suddenly lunged forward to grab the gun. Rose tightened her grip and pushed against the Master’s frailer and aged body. He stumbled backwards but tightened his grip on the trigger. Eyes widening, Rose twisted her arm as he fired the gun. They both gasped as the shot hit him and their eyes locked in startled realisation. His body fell to the right of them, but the movement set the gun off again.

 

 

Rose leapt back as a shower of sparks exploded from the TARDIS controls, throwing her hands over her eyes and grabbing hold of the rail. She finally uncovered her eyes as the sparks stopped and the Master slowly pulled himself up. He glared at her in raw rage, one hand covering his bloody wound.

 

“That was very stupid, my dear,” he growled.

 

Outside, the Doctor flinched at the sound of the shots. “Rose!?” he yelled in horror, “Rose?!” Behind him, Jack almost let go of the door and also yelled for their friend. Timothy bit his lip and pushed against the door in anger, biting his lip and searching his mind for any sign or feeling that Rose was alright. Right now he’d take any hint he could that things weren’t as bad as they seemed. The Doctor’s face was twisted in a pained grimace. “Rose!? What happened? Rose, please answer me!”

 

The Master savoured the rush of energy in him, embraced the flow of power all through his aged cells. It hurt, no doubt of that. This body, this form that the Time Lords had given him had spent too much time as a human and was not suited to a smooth regeneration. Still, he felt all the old cells breaking down beyond his DNA and being rearranged by the power of the Time Lords. He stumbled as the energy suddenly cut off and grabbed onto the controls before falling forward.

 

Rose swallowed and looked at the unconscious man in front of her. Shaking herself out of it, she turned to the door and tried to pry it open. She sighed in relief when she heard the Doctor yelling outside for her.

 

“I’m fine!” she yelled. “He’s regenerated, Doctor.” Pulling at the door she starting shaking as it refused to open. “How do I open the door?”

 

She listened for the Doctor’s answer over the roars of the Futurekind, but she couldn’t hear him. She did hear the Master pull himself up off the floor. Turning, she spun the gun, but in his new body, he had the advantage.

 

The Master threw his weight against Rose, knocking her head back into the TARDIS door. He took in the crack with a smirk as it was accompanied by the Doctor’s renewed screams. Surely the Futurekind would deal with him soon. He couldn’t wait around forever to see how this ended. Rose Tyler fought against him for another moment until he snapped her head back again. The gun fell again to the floor and she slid from his grasp, unconscious.

 

Picking up the gun, the Master shook his head and hit the comm again, “All fire that one Doctor.” The Master grinned at the sound of his own voice.“Hello! Oh, new voice! Hello. Hello. Hello.” The Master’s new regeneration paused. “Well, let’s see shall I tell you all my plans so you can come up with a way to stop me?” he asked mockingly. “I think not. In fact, I think that it is time to go.”

 

Smiling, the Master set the gun down on the console as he reached for the controls intent on setting a new course, only to be hit with a right hook from the side. The Master stumbled to the side and blinked as Rose grabbed the gun and wiped the blood from her head wound that was flowing into her eyes. Sighing, the Master shook his head.

 

“Don’t you know when to quit, Rose Tyler?”

 

Then moving quickly, the Master took advantage of Rose’s worsening balance and condition. She was swaying on her feet from the blood loss. Twisting Rose’s arm, the Master fought her for the gun. It had one shot left and he did not intend to be killed by a stupid human girl again. Holding her neck tightly, the Master pinned her left hand behind her against the rail and turned his focus to the gun.

 

Rose gasped for air, fighting off the edges of darkness that were invading her sight and trying to twist the gun around for one more shot at the Master. She tightened her finger on the trigger and squeezed it, but he twisted away far enough and the shot flew past him and into the TARDIS controls.

 

A section of the controls exploded and sparked wildly. Rose fell back with a pained groan and looked over at the section. The section shuddered and sparked again before he fell open and a golden light spilled out into the TARDIS console room. The Master shuddered and leapt back from the light, drawing himself to the other side of the control room. Rose slipped to the floor, leaning against the railing as her eyes were drawn to the TARDIS’ wound. The golden glow intensified in the console room and shook the TARDIS.

 

The Doctor gaped at the TARDIS, the light shining out into the lab through the small windows. Swallowing, he took a step back and shuddered. Behind him, he heard the Futurekind scream in horror and heard their retreating footsteps. Jack’s voice told Timothy to look away, but the Doctor knew that they weren’t the ones in danger.


	11. Out of Reach

Survivors of Gallifrey

By Lumendea

Chapter Eleven: Out of Reach

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and write only for the fun of it.

 

…………………………..

 

Eyes wide in glee and fascination, the Master watched Rose weakly stare at the golden light. Her eyes were completely focused on the light, mesmerised by it and he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen anything as pretty as the vortex being reflected in the eyes of the Doctor’s pet. Creeping forward, he let his eyes take in every detail and breathed in the thick smell of time. It had been so long since he had felt the untamed power of time, of the universe and here it was. The energy seemed to ignore him as it rushed for the weak and injured girl who had made contact with it once before. It knew her, he realised. That was even better. Blood trickled down Rose’s face from the head wound and the glow circled toward her, like a halo.

 

The Master tilted his head and smirked at the picture the Doctor’s love made covered in blood and golden bits of time. He wished he had a camera. He’d take a photo and send it to the Doctor. The screams outside had stopped and he could hear the Doctor trying to break into the TARDIS. Against his mind, he could feel the frantic half-formed thoughts and the chaos of the emotions running through his fellow Time Lord’s mind. Tearing his eyes from Rose, the Master set the controls on his side of the console, careful to avoid the energy flow of the Time Vortex. There should still be enough energy in the TARDIS to get him away from this dying rock.

 

Now as he moved his new hands about, his mind took stock of every new feature. It moved and shifted all the new muscles and took notes on the new tissues and the new levels of the senses. This body was young with energy and ready for the fight. Now with this is new strong and young form, he was ready to truly become the Master of All Things. No longer could he be held back by the Time Lords, no longer did he need to fear the Council of Gallifrey sending the Doctor after him and no longer would he have to trouble himself over the Doctor.

 

The Master dashed around the TARDIS control room in glee, it was all so perfect. A perfect revenge by accident. The stray shot had hit in the just the right place and opened the TARDIS without destroying it, but destroying the Doctor’s cherished girl. He would rob him of everything in one shift movement. Laughing, the Master inputted his flight into the TARDIS controls with a smirk.

 

The Master glanced at Rose and then at the door before speaking into the comm, “Well Doctor if we ever meet again, I’ll let you know how everything works out with Rosie. She’s not dead yet and who knows maybe, just maybe I’ll save her and find out what you find so attractive about this little human.” Grinning, the Master waved to the door and laughed. “End of the universe! Have fun! Bye bye!”

 

…………………………

 

 

The Doctor watched the TARDIS with grim determination as he pulled out the sonic screwdriver. There was no time and no other choice, not against the Master. He was a Time Lord. He couldn’t let his feelings interfere with what had to happen. There was no way to save her and if he kept trying the Master would escape into time and space and Rose would die anyway. That was of no comfort now, but he hoped in the future when he looked back on this day, that it would be enough to keep him sane. Maybe. Maybe not.

 

Holding up the sonic screwdriver, he swallowed hard and set about stopping his own ship. The Doctor knew that inside the controls would be sparking and fusing the TARDIS to one set of landings. He could see the light of the Time Vortex growing stronger and more intense. Taking a deep breath, he watched the TARDIS in silence as it dematerialized. A deafening silence fell over the room and he whispered, “Rose, I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry.” There were other words he wanted to say, that he wished he could say to her one more time.

 

The Doctor stared at the place where his TARDIS had stood. Everything was still and the future kind had not yet become brave enough to return. Neither Timothy nor Jack spoke behind him, but his ears were filled with painful noise. The final screams of Rose were echoing in his mind. It smoothed him, the heavy weight of the knowledge of what had just happened. He had screamed, he had begged and offered everything he had to the Master just to pull Rose away from the Heart of the TARDIS. He couldn’t save her this time, he had been outside the TARDIS, but with the Master, in control, they could have been divided by the void again. Closing his eyes, the Doctor breathed in a painful breath and shivered at the odd chill that seeping into the room. He couldn’t be certain if it was real or simply his pained mind.

 

………………………..

 

Rose clutched her fists, letting her nails dig into the flesh of her palms as she used the pain to remind her body to breathe. She wanted to move, but the light, the energy wouldn’t let her. It was rising and rising in her, filling her veins, lungs and heart with the golden light. She was drowning in it as the oxygen around her was burned up. The light seeped in and filled every hole and every little crack. Tears somehow slipped from her eyes. This was familiar, only this time Rose lacked purpose. She couldn’t control it. There was a frantic edge of the energy that there hadn’t been before.

 

Gasping for air, she cried out for her Doctor and begged the TARDIS to stop moving and to take them back to her Doctor. Darkness began creeping into her vision and she swayed toward the light. The singing grew louder and louder until it drowned out all else. The memory of rough lips against her own gave her a brief moment of strength, but it only made her cry harder.

 

Her heart stopped, she felt it beat and then felt it begin to burn. The pain was consuming and she desperately reached for the singing and the power. Her body was burning. It could not survive long enough this time to save her or to even stop the Master. Every cell screamed under the torment of the vortex as parts of her regressed in time and other cells aged a thousand years. Her eyes fell closed as the last of the energy rushed into her body and her tears boiled on her burning skin.

 

The Master moved closer, sure that all the energy was in the girl and could not hurt him. Kneeling next to her, he reached out a hand and brushed her burning cheek. It was hot to the touch and nothing transferred to him. It didn’t want him. It wanted the girl. The Master wondered how the Doctor had kept it from taking her last time. Pity, she wouldn’t be able to tell him. He fingered her hair and sighed as it turned bright gold and began to fall into dust.

 

“Beautiful,” he whispered, ignoring her pained screams. His eyes were glazed over as he traced Rose’s face, down her arms and touched her fingers as they fell into golden dust on the floor. “This is how the Daleks died?” he asked Rose in wonderment. “In golden light. Turned to dust and ashes by the force of time itself unleashed all at once. Oh, beautiful.” Leaning forward carefully, the Master brushed a kiss to Rose’s forehead and whispered, “Thank you, sweet Rosie, thank you for letting me see this.”

 

Sighing mournfully, the Master leaned back from her enough to see her body fall to the floor as nothing but dust. Bits of her slipped through his fingers before falling through the grating. The energy rushed past him and reentered the TARDIS. Smiling, the Master reached down and picked up a handful of dust, running it through his fingers. He wondered if anything remained. Any DNA, any clue or any power. Probably not, but just the thought was intoxicating.

 

……………………..

 

 

It was Jack who spoke first. “Doctor? Where has he gone?” His voice was cautious and controlled. Jack felt his own chest tighten with grief and fear.

 

The Doctor turned to Jack, noting a pained gaze in the man’s eyes. Jack’s hands were tight against his side, his pain and fury barely hidden, “We can’t let him…”

 

The Doctor nodded and swallowed, “Rose is dead Jack.” The Doctor held up his hands to stop them, “I don’t think he’d leave her alive and even if he did…” The Doctor avoided letting any of the possibilities become clear in his head. He couldn’t let himself even think of the things that the Master might do to Rose to hurt her. This was why caring was dangerous. He’d allowed himself to ignore that. Releasing a pained breath, the Doctor said, “We need to be prepared for the worst.”

 

“Doctor,” Timothy reminded his softly, “The future kind will be back soon.”

 

Nodding, the Doctor held out his hand to Jack. “Your vortex manipulator, Jack,” he said.

 

Blinking, Jack took it off and handed it to the Doctor. “It’s broken,” he said. “It hasn’t worked in years, centuries!” The Doctor didn’t say anything as he took out the sonic screwdriver and worked on the small wrist device in silence. Sighing, Jack glanced at Timothy who was staring off into space.

 

Frowning, Jack looked back at the Doctor, who suddenly a moment later said, “Jack, Timothy, hold on.” Both of them stepped forward and grabbed hold of the small device, the Doctor pressed a tiny button on it and they were pulled into the time vortex.

………………………

 

Martha Jones smiled as she picked up the remote for her telly and tossed her purse on the small table by her apartment door. Turning on the news, she grinned as the election results came up and nodded with pleasure. Reaching up, she pulled off her Saxon pin and set it on the table. Turning off the telly, Martha picked up her medical textbook and walked to the small desk she had tucked away in a corner of the living room.

 

She set the book down and looked over at her cell phone. Picking it up, Martha flipped it open and looked at the list of messages. She shook her head at herself as she realised that she was still waiting for a call from the TARDIS. Sighing, Martha firmly reminded herself of why she left in the first place. She didn’t want to be the third wheel with Rose around, not when she had feelings for the Doctor. Rubbing her eyes, Martha opened up her latest study book and began her nightly ritual of preparing for exams.


	12. In Need of a Doctor

Survivors of Gallifrey

By Lumendea

Chapter Twelve: In Need of a Doctor

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and write only for the fun of it.

 

…………………………….

 

Timothy didn’t bother looking around as he walked rapidly to keep up with the Doctor. They had landed in the early 21st century. He had seen Rose and Martha’s home era before and was still too queasy from the messy trip back in time. The feeling being squeezed and pulled apart would stay with him. How could anyone do that over and over again?

 

He glanced over at Jack’s wrist and again felt awed by the simple wrist device that really could travel in time and space. The older man saw his stare and offered him a tiny smile, but it fell away from his face very quickly as he looked back at the Doctor. Sighing, Timothy swallowed and looked at the Time Lord. From behind the Doctor, Timothy couldn’t see his face, but the posture said enough. Looking down at his feet, Timothy blinked and tried to banish the last few hours from his mind. The silence around them was heavy and his ears were still ringing with the screams of their friend Rose Tyler.   

 

Timothy felt that he should say something, but really what could possibly make this easier on the Doctor. He had seen their reunion and knew what they meant to each other. It was cruel of the universe to give him Rose back and then take her away so soon. His own chest was tight. The loss of her hurt Timothy more than he had imagined. He wouldn’t say that they were close exactly, but Rose was kind and bright. She stood up and fought when she thought it was necessary. He’d admired her and cared about her. The knowledge that she was just gone… Glancing at the Doctor again, Timothy nibbled on his lip in concern for what the Time Lord would do next. If he hurt that much, how was the Doctor truly feeling? The very thought was staggering and Timothy desperately hoped that the Doctor’s mental shields would stay up.

 

It was Jack who finally spoke first.“Doctor, what do we do now?” Jack asked softly.

 

Turning to him, the Doctor looked around at the busy street of London. “We need to find the Master.” He paused and his eyes darted around as if he thought he might be on the same street. “I locked the TARDIS systems, Jack. He could only take the TARDIS to here and the end of the Earth.” The Doctor looked around and said, “This is the last place we were, well Cardiff actually, but the same planet would be close enough.”

 

Jack nodded and avoided touching on the subject of Rose. “He regenerated right?” Jack asked as they sat down, “His voice changed…” Jack trailed off and shook his head for a moment. “That voice, Doctor,” Jack said. “I think I’ve heard it before.” As the Doctor turned his eyes to him, Jack swallowed and answered, “Not sure where.”

 

 

Timothy looked around the busy street and frowned. All the walls were covered with large posters with the name Saxon on them. Normally he would have asked about them, but this wasn’t the time. It chilled Timothy to think that the Master was loose here, at this time. He shuddered at the memory of his brief encounter with the watch and the entity that had been hidden away inside of it. The Doctor and the Master were so similar and yet where it mattered the most they were the opposites. The reasons for their destructive actions were a million miles and years apart. Timothy turned his attention back to the Doctor in time to note the Doctor saying that he would know the Master when he saw him, something about telepathy and being a Time Lord.

 

“We need to find the Master,” Jack said with a worried glance at the Doctor, “What is the best way to start? You know him, Doctor. Where would he go? What would he do?”

 

“Power,” the Doctor said quickly. “He always organised himself into areas and positions of power depending on what he wanted to do.” The Doctor frowned, “UNIT knows about him, they know his habits and the signs of him being around.” The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.

 

Timothy suggested, “Maybe this UNIT has already found him.”

 

The Doctor frowned and looked around, “No,” he shook his head, “No, the Master knows about UNIT too. They’ve captured him before and he wouldn’t risk it, not this time.” Standing up, the Doctor looked around the streets and said, “Come on, I need information about anything unusual lately and a way to check the systems. Martha leaves nearby.”

 

Jack raised an eyebrow and looked down at Timothy. “Martha?” He repeated in confusion. “Who’s that?”

 

……………………..

 

Martha looked up at her door as a loud pounding caught her attention as she sat at her small desk with a medical textbook. She frowned as the pounding continued and rolled her eyes. She wasn’t expecting any packages and she was far from the noisy one in the building. Standing up, she opened the door and gasped as the Doctor walked into her apartment without a word. She blinked for a moment and turned her attention to the man next to Timothy.

 

“Hello Martha,” Timothy said softly with a small smile. His good manners were still intact at least. He gestured to the tall dark haired man beside him. “This is Jack Harkness.”

 

“Nice to meet you,” Jack said with a wide grin.

 

“Uh nice to meet you,” Martha replied. “Come on in.”

 

Timothy shook his head at Jack’s greeting and offered Martha a small smile as she shut the door. The Doctor was already working on Martha’s computer with his glasses on and an angry expression on his face. Timothy held back a shiver. The Storm was building. Timothy offered Martha a small smile and shook his head to her when she gave the Doctor an angry look.

 

“Don’t,” Jack whispered to her as he stepped up behind her. “He’s not doing well right now.”

 

The frown returned to Martha’s face and she looked back at the door. Worry flashed in her eyes as she noted Rose’s absence. She looked at Jack over her shoulder and mouthed the question so the Doctor didn’t hear. Jack shook his head sadly and mouthed the word ‘dead.’ Timothy flinched at the reminder. Martha covered her hand with her mouth to hide her soft cry. Moving away from Jack, she sat on her small sofa across from the Doctor.

 

“What’s been happening lately?” the Doctor asked suddenly. “Any odd things recently.”

 

“No,” Martha said quickly. She cleared her throat and straightened up. “Nothing that I’ve noticed. I’ve been working on exams.”

 

 

“Exams?” Jack asked with interest as he stepped further into the apartment.

 

“Medical student.”

 

“Nice,” Jack said warmly. “Very nice.”

 

“Any thoughts on that voice?” the Doctor asked without looking up.

 

Leaning over, Martha watched him looking through some kind of code. She barely heard Jack answer the Doctor with a negative as she looked around at the odd guests she now had. Martha debated with herself for a moment, but the Doctor had come here and made her a part of whatever was happening. Sighing, she swallowed and stood up.

 

“Doctor, what is going on?”

 

“Someone very dangerous is hiding out in your time,” the Doctor answered bluntly. He didn’t even look up.

 

“You can do better than that,” Martha told him as she crossed her arms.

 

“Martha,” Jack said suddenly as he stepped forward and touched her shoulder. “Could you turn on the news? I can only guess that is where I heard the voice. I don’t really get out much.”

 

Jack gave her an imploring look and noticed her tense further, but she picked up the remote and turned on the news. Nodding to her, he turned his attention away from her and the Doctor and to the telly. Concentrating, she listened to everything and watched the stories scrolling on the bottom.

 

“Election results are in and Harry Saxon has been named the new Prime Minister.”

 

“I missed the election,” Jack groaned. “At least Saxon won.”

 

“I voted for him too,” Martha said with a smile just before the screen cut to an image of the new Prime Minster walking down some stairs.

 

“This country is sick,” Jack gaped at the television and the Doctor looked up at the screen with wide eyes. “This country needs medicine. This country needs a Doctor.”

 

“You’ve got to kidding me.”

 

“The Master is Prime Minister of Great Britain.”

 

“Who is the Master?” Martha asked quickly as the Doctor began searching on the Internet.

 

 

Jack shrugged at Martha’s question and Timothy shivered but didn’t answer her question. She turned to the Doctor and frowned. He looked up at her after a moment. Martha took a step back in surprise at the raw emotions in his eyes. Even in his worst moments, she had never seen anything from him that intense. She watched his eyes move to the screen that was now showing basic pictures of Harry Saxon.

 

“He killed Rose and he’s a Time Lord. That’s all you need to know,” the Doctor hissed before he pulled up the Saxon home page. “But the pressing question is how has he been hiding himself here?”

 

“But Saxon has been around for years,” Jack argued.

 

“You heard him, Jack, same as I did,” the Doctor reminded him impatiently.

 

“Then what will he be doing now, Doctor? He’s stuck here or the end of the universe. What could he be doing?”

 

“Taking over,” Timothy said suddenly, “He’s angry and . . . and he feels like he’s lost control.” Biting his lip, Timothy looked at the Doctor, “When I touched the watch, he was afraid and angry with himself. He’ll do anything to feel in control again.”

 

“Yep,” the Doctor sighed as he looked at Timothy. “Sound about right.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Master of the Universe. That’s what he always wanted to be.”

 

“Watch?” Martha asked Timothy softly, “You mean like the Doctor’s? The one he used when he became human?”

 

The whole idea was too much for Martha. She didn’t want to believe it, but Timothy nodded. The young man sighed and looked back at the television, leaving Jack and the Doctor to examine the Harold Saxon website.

 

…………………….

 

Lucy Saxon looked down at the floor as the reporter pressed on her to reveal information about her husband. The words stung and fear crept into the back of her mind. If this woman Vivian knew, who else knew and what would they do. She swallowed and softly replied to the woman threatening everything.

 

“I made my choice,” she straightened up as she felt her husband near her, “For better or for worse. Isn’t that right Harry?”                                        

“My faithful companion.”

 

Vivian looked up fearfully and tried to maintain her calm composure. She quickly gathered up her photos and papers, putting them back into her portfolio.

 

“Mister Saxon, Prime Minister. I was just having a little joke with poor little Lucy,” Vivian said. Her smile was too forced and desperate. “I didn’t mean…”

 

The Master just smiled and walked calm toward her. He wasn’t worried, even as Lucy looked on sadly while he just gave Vivian a smirk. “Oh but you are absolutely right. Harold Saxon doesn’t exist,” he told her cheerfully.

 

Vivian’s friendly expression vanished. “Then tell me, who are you?”

 

“I am the Master and these are my friends.”

 

He raised his hands and remained perfectly calm as two metal creatures appeared next to him. He ignored Lucy’s soft apology to the woman, she was only human after all and kept his eyes on Vivian.

 

“Can’t you hear it,” the Master asked. His eyes were bright with excitement. “The drums? The drums are coming closer and closer and closer.”


	13. Crossing Point

Survivors of Gallifrey

By Lumendea

Chapter Thirteen: Crossing Point

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and write only for the fun of it.

 

……………………

 

The Master’s eyes swept over the glowing red form that the TARDIS now held. It was stunning. Her song had changed, taking on a darker and angrier tone, but she had been helpless to stop him. He had ripped her apart, remoulded her and as his people would have said cannibalised her. Many long tubes and wires had been pulled out and then reattached in new places. A thick shell surrounded the controls, channelling the energy flow or at least it would once the event occurred. It was beautiful, a masterpiece of perfection! With this TARDIS as it now was, he could reshape the universe.

 

As he walked up the ramp his fingers tapped out a beat on what remained of the railings. He knew he should be on Earth seeing to the final details, but he could afford a few moments here in the TARDIS before the new purpose began. The cabinet was dead, Torchwood was gone on a wild goose chase, UNIT was distracted by some new technology he had planted, Section Six in the US was investigating a ‘tip’ and he could feel the Doctor creeping around on the planet below. That thought made him smile. The Doctor, his only remaining brother Time Lord and his best enemy.

 

They had been so alike and now they stood opposite in what would be the greatest moment of all time. It took him back. Took him back to Gallifrey when they’d both been outcasts. Both a little too clever and outright in their different thinking. Both seeking more than what the rules could offer them. Sometimes it made him sad that the Doctor never saw things the way he had. Together they would have reshaped the universe long ago, but then again fighting each other had always been so much fun.

 

Perhaps not so opposite, the Master thought to himself. He had also found a human to serve as companion and consort. Lucy had reminded him of Rose, sweet, blonde and oh so human. The smile dropped away at the thought of Rose Tyler. It nagged him between the beats of the drums. That girl who had died in the Time Vortex and burned away in its light. He had wanted to know more about what she saw, what she felt and what could have been done with that power. That child had banished the Daleks and granted immortality and yet he had been denied answers. It felt like he had missed something or forgotten something about Rose. It was an itch that the drumming barely drowned out in his head. The Master shivered as a flickering image of glowing golden eyes rose in his mind only to be drummed out a moment later.

 

He’d tried to learn more about her. He’d used his position of power to study her records, but nothing about her had been impressive. Average student who never got her A-Levels. Domestic abuse from an old boyfriend and a harpy of a mother. Yet the Doctor had seen something in her. He always saw something in humans, but Rose had been extra special. He’d broken the Rules! Rose Tyler was so different from his own sweet, upper-class and obedient Lucy. Somehow, he’d make the Doctor tell him all about her. Tell him all the things he couldn’t learn just from her file.

 

The Master took his hand away from the console to stop his line of thoughts. He didn’t want to think about it or about her right now. Tomorrow everything would fall into place and he’d win. The only possible problem was the Doctor, but even that was just an entertaining challenge. He wanted the Doctor to find him and to know exactly where he was at the right time. Rose Tyler had no living family that he could find outside of a distant cousin that thought she had been dead for years. He had agents watching UNIT, the Brigadier, Jo Grant, Henry Sullivan, Tegan, Sarah Jane Smith and all the other former companions that he could recall. His phone rang suddenly and he flipped it open.

 

“Did you get into the UNIT files?” He paused and tilted his head in consideration. “Really? Martha Jones. Did the UNIT file have an address? Then I suggest you go to work on her.” The Master snapped the phone shut and grinned up at the TARDIS column. “So Doctor, a friend I haven’t met yet. I think I know where you are.”

 

 

The Master ran his hand over the new piping again, but his eyes were drawn back to the place that Rose had died. Kneeling down, the Master ran a finger over the granting, searching for a speck of dust left. He found none which didn’t surprise him as he had cleaned the TARDIS carefully while building his masterpiece.

 

“Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust,” he whispered to himself. “Rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” The Master shook his head and laughed at himself. “And now fade into memory daughter of time, I have no need of you.” The Master paused again and rubbed his thumb against the rail as he pulled himself up. “Soon it will end and the new empire will erase everything else.”

 

…………………………………

 

Timothy frowned as he followed the Doctor, Jack and Martha down the street.

 

“Doctor?” Martha asked. “What are we looking for?”

 

The Doctor was carrying Martha’s laptop and set it down on a bench next to a park. “I need a clearer signal,” The Doctor muttered as he pulled out the sonic screwdriver. “The Master is hiding himself from me somehow and I need to figure it out. The Master was always sort of hypnotic but this is on a massive scale.”

 

“I voted for him,” Martha admitted softly.

 

“I was planning on it,” Jack said to the Doctor with a nod, “I liked him. He sounded like he’d be a great Prime Minister.”

 

“Why do you say that? What was his policy? What did he stand for?”

 

“I dunno. He always sounded good,” Martha told him with a shrug as her fingers began tapping on the bench armrest. “Like you could trust him,” she said vaguely, “Just nice. He spoke about I can’t really remember, but it was good. Just the sound of his voice”

 

The Doctor’s eyes glanced at her hands and he quickly hissed, “What’s that?”

 

“What?” Martha asked in confusion.

 

“That! That tapping, that rhythm! What are you doing?”

 

“I dunno. It’s nothing. It’s j— I dunno!” Martha told him quickly with a nervous glance at Timothy and then to Jack.

 

A quick tune played on Martha’s laptop and a message popped up that read Saxon message on all channels.

 

“Our lord and master is speaking to his kingdom,” the Doctor muttered with linking to a newscast site which began playing the broadcast on the laptop.

 

 

“Britain, Britain, Britain. What extraordinary times we’ve had. Just a few years ago, this world was so small. And then they came, out of the unknown, falling from the skies,” Saxon said with a smile from behind a large table, “You’ve seen it happen—Big Ben destroyed, a spaceship over London. All those ghosts and metal men. The Christmas star that came to kill. Time and time again the government told you nothing. Well, not me. Not Harold Saxon. Because my purpose here today is to tell you this—citizens of Great BritainI have been contacted. A message, for humanity, from beyond the stars.”

 

Timothy gasped as the message from the sphere like alien began to play and he heard Martha and Jack have similar reactions. Timothy felt the sharp stab of emotions against his mind and stepped back from the others. His eyes looked into the park while he listened to the broadcast. There next to a fountain was an old man in a wheelchair, the oldest and most worn out person that Timothy had ever laid eyes on. His eyes were fixed on the Doctor before they slid over to meet his own. An odd sad smile slid over his features and he raised a pale hand to motion Timothy to him. Frowning, the boy glanced at the Doctor who had his eyes fixed on the computer screen and his fists clutched in anger and frustration. Timothy looked back at the strange man and then slowly walked forward to speak with him.

 

“Hello Timothy Latimer,” the old man said with an amused chuckle.

 

“Hello sir,” Timothy said slowly. “How do you know me?”

 

The old man sighed and looked him over with a soft smile. His eyes looked beyond him at the Doctor, Jack and Martha before they returned to Timothy. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a very old watch. Timothy gasped as he recognised it as the watch the Doctor had been kept in while he was the human John Smith. Timothy’s eyes darted up to meet the old man.

 

“Calm yourself,” he said softly, “I mean no harm to you, the Doctor, Jack or Martha.”

 

“Who are you?”

 

“My dear lad I am you,” the old man told him with a laugh. “Quite a bit older of course. In fact, I am one of the oldest people in the world,” he coughed slightly. “I’ve been waiting for today.”

 

“Why?” Timothy shook his head in confusion. “Surely we should not meet.”

 

“I remember this meeting young man, avoiding it would cause even more problems.” The old man looked back at the Doctor. “He looks so young to me now and Martha was truly lovely and Jack...” The man shivered and said, “Never got used to that, never had to.”

 

“Sir,” Timothy reminded him. “Please give me whatever message that you came to give, things are not right.”

 

 

“Believe me I know,” the elder Timothy said, shaking his head. “I voted against Saxon of course, but his spell is strong on mankind. Timothy, stay close to Martha and mind the Doctor. When you next see the TARDIS, you must break the glass surrounding the controls.”

 

“What glass?”

 

“You’ll understand when the time comes, but it is vital that you get to the TARDIS and break the shield around the controls. Everything depends on that and tell the Doctor to look at the Archangel network. If you do these two things, everything will follow the course of events that I recall and trust me that is far better than the alternative.”

 

“Grandfather!” A young brunette woman shouted to the old man. “Grandfather I’m sorry to interrupt, but Aunt Lauren is expecting us. She’s saying something about a historical news broadcast that we need to see.”

 

“Of course Sarah,” the old Timothy said to the young woman while giving Timothy a large smile.

 

The girl, Sarah glanced at Timothy and gave him a large smile. “I hope he hasn’t bored you with tales of the Great War.”

 

“No,” Timothy told her in a shocked tone. A granddaughter. He’d have a granddaughter. “Nothing like that.”

 

“I’m surprised, Grandfather was a war hero,” she said. Then she frowned slightly, giving him a long considering look as if trying to place his face.

 

The older Timothy noticed and quickly squeezed her hand. “Come, my dear, it is not good for someone as old as me to remain in the sun.”

 

Timothy watched in awe as the very old man was pushed away in his wheelchair and he could hear the soft laughter of the young woman. A smile pulled at his lips against his own control. The words of the young woman echoed in his mind, even more so than the words of his older form. The war she had spoken of sent a chill through him as he turned back to toward the Doctor.

 

Martha’s phone began ringing and she quickly answered it. A look of alarm took over her face.

 

“Marie slow down... what?!” Martha’s eyes widened, “Oh God! Was anyone hurt? Right, I well. I’ve got to go.” Martha closed her phone and turned the Doctor, her eyes wide and fearful, “That was my neighbour Doctor, my apartment just blew up. He knows who I am!”


	14. The Hidden Signal

Survivors of Gallifrey

By Lumendea

Chapter Fourteen: The Hidden Signal

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and write only for the fun of it.

 

……………………………..

 

Martha was trying not to panic as she called her family, desperately trying to talk them into running. She was a target. Her time with the Doctor had made her a target. Barely holding her thoughts together, Martha kept calling her family. Only her brother was able to answer in confusion while her parents were dragged away.

 

“Leo, just listen to me. Don’t go home, I’m telling you. Don’t phone Mum or Dad or Tish. You’ve gotta hide,” Martha pleaded into the phone to her disbelieving brother. “On my life. You’ve gotta trust me. Go to Boxer’s. Stay with him. Don’t tell anyone! Just hide!”

 

“Ooh, a nice little game of hide-and-seek,” the voice of Harold Saxon suddenly broke into the phone call. Martha froze in place and desperately hoped that Leo would listen. “I love that. But I’ll find you, Martha Jones. I do so enjoy meeting the Doctor’s companions.”

 

The Doctor spun at the sound of Martha screaming at Saxon into the phone. He quickly plucked the phone from her grasp and took a breath to calm himself before putting the phone to his ear. Jack caught Martha’s arms, reassuring her with soft words. Martha wanted to yell at him, but she focused on the Doctor.

 

“I’m here,” The Doctor said simply.

 

“Doctor,” the Master breathed.

 

“Master.”

 

“I like it when you use my name.”

 

“You chose it. Psychiatrist’s field day,” the Doctor remarked.

 

“As you chose yours. The man who makes people better. How sanctimonious is that?” There was a long pause between the two Time Lords. “She died in the Time Vortex,” the Master said, answering the unasked question. “I don’t believe she suffered.” The Master waited, but the Doctor said nothing. “My condolences. It was beautiful.”

 

“Who are those creatures? ‘Cause there’s no such thing as the Toclafane. It’s just a made-up name like the Bogeyman.”

 

“Changing the subject then? I except that wound is too fresh, very well,” the Master said. There was an actual hint of gentleness to his voice. Then it turned teasing. “Do you remember all those fairy tales about the Toclafane when we were kids? Back home. Where is it, Doctor?”

 

“Gone.”

 

“How can Gallifrey be gone?” the Master demanded.

 

“It burnt,” the Doctor answered simply.

 

“And the Time Lords?”

 

“Dead. And the Daleks… more or less. What happened to you?”

 

“The Time Lords only resurrected me because they knew I’d be the perfect warrior for a Time War. I was there when the Dalek Emperor took control of the Cruciform,” the Master explained. Then he paused and struggled to breathe. “I saw it. I ran. I ran so far. Made myself human so they would never find me because…I was so scared.”

 

“I know,” the Doctor answered softly.

 

There was a moment of silence, of stillness. It was almost like they were just two old soldiers offering comfort in their understanding. But it couldn’t last. The Master couldn’t let it last. That wasn’t how this was going to go. Not this time.

 

“All of them? But now you, which must mean…”

 

“I was the only one who could end it. And I tried. I did. I tried everything.”

 

“What did it feel like, though? Two almighty civilisations burning. Oh, tell me, how did it feel?” The Master breathed out. Heady at just the thought of experiencing that. And the Doctor had. The Doctor had done that!

 

“Stop it!”

 

“You must have been like God…. and yet you couldn’t save Her.”

 

“Don’t,” the Doctor hissed. “Don’t make this harder, you know what I’m capable of.”

 

A warning, a true warning from the Doctor. The Master almost danced in glee. He had missed the old boy. Had missed their little spats. This time he’d win, this time he’d pushed the Doctor to a breaking point. This time he had a weakness to push. It was glorious.

 

“Apparently destroying your own world,” the smirk in the Master’s voice was clear. “I wonder if you would destroy this one too. Shall we Doctor? It would be so much fun.”

 

“No,” the Doctor admitted. “We could fight across the constellations if that’s what you want. But not on Earth.”

 

“Too late,” the Master replied with almost a sigh.

 

“Why do you say that?”

 

“The drumming,” the Master said as he began drumming his fingers on the table. “I thought it would stop but it never does. Never ever stops. Inside my head, the drumming, Doctor. The constant drumming.”

 

“I could help you. Please, let me help.”

 

“It’s everywhere. Listen, listen, listen. Here come the drums. Here come the drums.”

 

The Doctor turned slightly to see the people around him tapping their fingers together.

 

“What have you done? Tell me how you’ve done this. What are those creatures? Tell me!”

 

The Master retook his seat and accessed his laptop before gleefully saying, “Ooh, look. You’re on TV.”

 

“Stop it! Answer me!”

 

“No, really. You’re on telly! You and your little band, which, by the way, is ticking every demographic box,” the Master teased. “So, congratulations on that. Look, there you are! Ha!”

 

The Doctor turned as Timothy pointed to a TV in a shop window. The boy’s face was pale and they stopped to listen as they were declared armed and extremely dangerous.

 

“You’re public enemies number one, two, three and four. Oh, and you can tell Handsome Jack that I’ve sent his little gang off on a wild goose chase to the Himalayas so he won’t be getting any help from them. Now, go on, off you go. Why not start by turning to the right?”

 

The Doctor spun and glared at the camera, “He can see us.” Pulling out his sonic screwdriver, he pointed it up at the camera and fried the circuits.

 

“Ooh, you public menace. Better start running. Go on. Run!” The Master shouted through the phone.

 

“He’s got control of everything,” the Doctor muttered, his voice taking on a new edge as he snapped the phone shut.

 

“What do we do?” Martha asked.

 

“We’ve got nowhere to go,” Jack reminded them.

 

“Doctor, what do we do?” Martha asked again when the Doctor did not answer them.

 

The Doctor turned and looked at the three humans behind him. “We run.”

 

…………………….

 

Timothy was silent as the drama unfolded and they fled far away from the cameras of Central London. His mind was still trying to wrap around the meeting with his older self and a gut instinct told him not to tell the Doctor. The meeting gave Timothy a sense of purpose and hope because at some point in his own future he would return to his proper time where he would live out a life. He’d live to be very old with a purpose and at least one grandchild. Surely that meant that all this would turn out alright in the end, but why was breaking the glass of the TARDIS so important?

 

He didn’t understand it. Couldn’t begin to understand it, but he believed it. That man had been him, it wasn’t a trick. That girl had been his grandchild. In his mind, his own gift was calm and certain. It wasn’t a trick of the Master’s. They weren’t as lost and helpless as the others thoughts.

 

The foursome settled for a few hours in an empty warehouse where the Doctor kept at the laptop, not speaking with them. Timothy could barely detect mixed feelings coming from the Time Lord along with his pure anger. Martha vanished briefly and returned with a bit of food which Timothy barely touched and the Doctor ignored completely. Martha and Jack kept sharing pointed looks with each other that Timothy felt were unnecessary.

 

“So, Doctor, who is he? How come the ancient society of Time Lords created a psychopath?” Jack finally asked, his tone curious, but clearly trying not to sound too worried. He failed.

 

“And what is he to you? Like a colleague,” Martha asked.

 

“A friend, at first.”

 

“Some friend,” Timothy muttered. “The way he thinks of you.” Timothy shivered at the memories coming from that watch. There was frustration, respect, resentment and a lot of fear.

 

“I thought you were gonna say he was your secret brother or something.”

 

“You’ve been watching too much TV,” the Doctor replied with a shake of his head.

 

“But all the legends of Gallifrey made it sound so perfect,” Jack said.

 

“Well, perfect to look at, maybe. And it was, it was beautiful,” the Doctor admitted as he leaned back. “They used to call it the Shining World of the Seven Systems. And on the Continent of Wild Endeavour, in the Mountains of Solace and Solitude, there stood the Citadel of the Time Lords… The oldest and most mighty race in the universe…looking down on the galaxies below…sworn never to interfere…only to watch. Children of Gallifrey, taken from their families at the age of eight to enter the Academy. And some say that’s when it all began. When he was a child… that’s when the Master saw eternity. As a novice, he was taken for initiation, it’s a gap in the fabric of reality through which could be seen the whole of the vortex. You stand there, eight years old…staring at the raw power of time and space, just a child. Some would be inspired…some would run away…and some would go mad.” The Doctor shook his head sadly.

 

“What about you?” Martha asked.

 

“Oh, the ones that ran away,” the Doctor told Martha with a shrug. “I never stopped.” The Doctor stared off into space with a bittersweet expression. “And I ended up here. I always came back to Earth.”

 

They all seemed to realise that the Doctor was thinking of Rose again and dropped into silence. Grief rolled off all three of them. It was weakest from Martha, thick from Jack and overwhelming from the Doctor. Timothy bit his lip nervously but straightened himself up. He had to focus, he couldn’t let their emotions cripple him. Not when he had something to fight for.

 

“Martha, what is the Archangel network?” Timothy asked.

 

Martha was startled by the question and even the Doctor looked up at him.

 

“It is a network of satellites,” Martha said. Seeing Timothy’s blank look Martha continued. “satellites are large machines in space that send signals all across the globe. The Archangel Network is the newest and most advanced system ever put into space.” She took out her phone and showed it to him. “Everyone’s electronics are carried on Archangel now.”

 

The Doctor frowned at the information and looked at Martha before looking at Timothy. “Why the question Timothy?” the Doctor asked.

 

Timothy swallowed unsure of what to say, but then Jack leaned forward eagerly. “Doctor that might be it,” Jack said with excitement. “Saxon, the Master, was the one who launched the Archangel network!”

 

The Doctor’s eyes widened and he grabbed Martha’s phone and ran the sonic screwdriver over it. “It’s in the phones! Oh, I said he was a hypnotist! Wait, wait, wait. Hold on.” The Doctor tapped the phone against the table and grinned at it began to beep in the drumming rhythm. “There it is. That rhythm, it’s everywhere. Ticking away in the subconscious.”

 

“What is it, mind control?” Martha asked with a startled expression.

 

“No, no, no, no. Subtler than that. Any stronger and people would question it. But contained in that rhythm, in layers of code… Vote Saxon. Believe in me. Whispering to the world. Oh, yes! That’s how he hid himself from me. ‘Cause I should have sensed there was another Time Lord on Earth. I should have known way back. The signal cancelled him out.”

 

“Any way you can stop it?” Jack asked.

 

“Not from down here. But now we know how he’s doing it.”

 

“And we can fight back,” Timothy added hopefully.

 

The Doctor turned a full grin on them. “Oh, yes!”


	15. Ghosts

Survivors of Gallifrey

by Lumendea

Chapter Fifteen: Ghosts

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and write only for the fun of it.

 

……………………………

 

The three companions watched the Doctor in silence as he used the four TARDIS keys to fashion perception filters for each of them. The Doctor worked in silence with only the thrum of the sonic screwdriver and the tap of rain on the roof providing any noise. Jack glanced at both Marth and Timothy, but no one wanted to be the one to start the conversation. There was too much going on in everyone’s mind.

 

The warehouse and the laptop provided the bits and pieces that the Doctor needed. Timothy normally would have been impressed by the technology, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the strange message that had been given to him. The Doctor handed the key back to Timothy. He gave one to Jack and Martha with a brief explanation of how it worked. Martha’s face tightened when the Doctor compared it to fancying someone who didn’t know you existed. As the Doctor stalked off, Jack asked “you too?” and Timothy found himself grateful for not falling into that trap. Shaking the thought away, Timothy followed the Doctor and they slowly departed the warehouse.

 

“Don’t run. Don’t shout,” the Doctor instructed. “Just keep your voice down. Draw attention to yourself and the spell is broken. Just keep to the shadows,” the Doctor told them in a low voice as they entered the street.

 

“Like ghosts,” Jack commented.

 

“Yeah, that’s what we are, ghosts,” the Doctor agreed.

 

Timothy was silent as they tracked Saxon to the airport. He said nothing as the Doctor held back both Jack and Martha. Anger, pity and desperation were still seeping off the Doctor and into Timothy’s mind. Whatever shields the Time Lord usually had in place had fallen. The trace of ice and fire and the storm that he remembered from the watch were brushing against Timothy’s mind. He tried to sort out the emotions, fought to make sure that they didn’t consume him.

 

They made it to the landing pad and watched as the Master carried on. He was almost human. If you didn’t know then you have honestly believed it. Thankfully, the Master had far better shields than the Doctor and Timothy couldn’t pick up anything from him. Jack’s anger spiked and the screams of Rose Tyler replayed in both Jack and the Doctor’s heads.

 

He understood, he could understand why the Doctor needed to save the Master, but he didn’t agree. Timothy couldn’t shake the feeling that Jack’s plan to break his neck would save them all a lot of grief. Yet, he remained so still and silent that the Doctor looked away from the Master to give him a silent once over. Timothy straightened himself and nodded to assure the Doctor that he was alright. He couldn’t pretend he was a few minutes later when they used Jack’s teleport again, this time to follow the Master to the Valiant.

 

Timothy leaned against the wall as he forced his lungs to work. Jack’s vortex manipulator was not a comfortable ride, especially with four people using it. Martha was stiff and Timothy could pick up her anger and determination. Jack took a breath to recover as the Doctor glanced around them. Then they were rushing through the halls toward the main room where the President and Saxon would be waiting. As far as Timothy knew, there wasn’t a plan of how to stop the Master or the aliens. Timothy nearly ran into the Doctor when he suddenly halted. He paused, listening intently to the vibrations in the air around them.

 

 “We’ve no time for sightseeing!” Jack snapped.

 

“No, no. Wait,” the Doctor ordered. “Shh, shh, shh. Can’t you hear it?”

 

“Hear what?” Jack asked the Doctor in confusion.

 

“Doctor, my family’s on board,” Martha reminded him sharply.

 

Timothy jumped out of Martha’s path as she strode past. Worry and desperation were coming off of her in waves. The Doctor, however, turned sharply with a huge smile on his smile.

 

“Brilliant!” he shouted. “This way!” He took off running down one of the side corridors.

 

The three companions glanced at each other before rushing after the Doctor. The Time Lord stopped in front of a set of doors and pulled them open. Timothy heard everyone sigh in relief as the TARDIS came into view before them.

 

“Oh, at last!”

 

Martha laughed, “Oh, yes!”

 

“What’s it doing on the Valiant?” Jack questioned as they rushed to the door.

 

Timothy froze when they entered to see a very different interior to the TARDIS. A harsh metal field surrounded the main console and red light filled the once magnificent room. It was twisted out of its proper shape. The familiar hum was more of a pained grinding and Timothy’s chest tightened. The words from his own future began to make more sense to him now even if he didn’t understand it.

 

“What the hell’s he done?” Jack shouted. The worry in his voice was clear.

 

“Don’t touch it,” the Doctor snapped. His rage was clear as well as his fear.

 

“I’m not going to,” Jack promised.

 

“What’s he done though? Sounds like it’s… sick,” Martha asked.

 

Timothy stepped back and examined the sight. The console had been stripped down of many familiar parts and the red cage extended from the roof to the ceiling. He moved slowly around the main section and into the shadows.

 

“It can’t be. No, no, no, no, no, no, it can’t be,” the Doctor groaned.

 

“Doctor, what is it?”

 

“He’s cannibalised the TARDIS,” the Doctor groaned.

 

Jack gaped up at the TARDIS with a look of understanding. “Is that what I think it is?”

 

“It’s a paradox machine.”

 

Timothy was still and silent as the Doctor rushed out of the TARDIS, he had said something about stopping the Master. Jack and Martha followed, surely assuming that he would follow them, but he remained in the red glowing TARDIS. Break the glass on the console his older-self had said, but Timothy did not see any glass in the cage. The Doctor had said that removing the wrong thing would destroy everything. What was he supposed to do?

 

He took a step back and leaned against the rails as his eyes searched the metal grid cage. There had to be something, he told himself. Some glass somewhere. Or had he forgotten something in old age? Worry tugged at Timothy. He glanced back towards the door wondering if he should follow the Doctor after all, but the face of his future grandchild flashed through his mind. He couldn’t risk it, not if it risked her.

 

Then he saw it, near one of the old controls there was a small round glass section. Timothy stepped towards it and looked through it. The glass served as a small porthole that looked down at the base of the controls. It seemed out of place, Timothy could not think of why the Master would care about that spot. He reached out and gently touched it. The glass was smooth and warm to the touch, but there was something else. Taking a deep breath, Timothy pulled out his pocket knife and took the mallet from where it lay discarded. Putting the knife against the glass like a nail, he swung the mallet and flinched as the glass cracked.

 

Timothy stared at the crack for a moment and was about to swing again when the TARDIS started vibrating at a different pitch. Under his hand, the crack began to glow a soft gold colour. Timothy stepped back, withdrawing the knife as the glow intensified. Stumbling back, he covered his face as the glass exploded outwards. Taking a deep breath, Timothy looked back to see what seemed to be golden smoke rising from the hole. He gaped at it as the golden dust seemed to gather into a vaguely human form. The golden particles floated there for a moment as the form became more and more pronounced.

 

“Rose,” Timothy whispered.

 

Then the form, Rose, lifted an arm toward the console and the TARDIS shook violently. Timothy grabbed onto the rail tightly as the metal of the cage wrapped and twisted, making a terrible sound. The whole room vibrated more harshly than he had ever felt before and he wrapped his arms and legs around the rail to hold himself. The metal cage twisted and turned, taking on new shapes which refit itself into the console. The red light began to fade as more pieces of the paradox machine were consumed by the golden dust and the TARDIS itself. Then it stopped and the golden form vanished from Timothy’s view, leaving his alone in the restored TARDIS control room.

 

…………………………..

 

The Master grinned down at the Doctor as two guards held him down, guns pointed and ready to shoot him. Jack lay behind them dead, at least for now.

 

“It’s that sound, the sound in your head,” the Doctor said. “What if I could help?”

 

The Master rolled his eyes. “Oh, how to shut him up? I know. Memory Lane!” The Master was about to sit on the steps when the ship suddenly shook. The Master looked over sharply as the Doctor and searched his fellow Time Lords face. “You don’t know what that was do you?” the Master asked. Silence met the question and the Master turned to the toclafance and nodded.

 

The three toclafane flew toward the door. “Protect the machine!” Then the three toclafance glowed gold and turned to dust before the eyes of the world.


	16. The Drumbeat

Survivors of Gallifrey

by Lumendea

Chapter Sixteen: The Drumbeat

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who and write only for the fun of it.

 

……………………….

 

The Master, the Doctor, Martha and everyone else in the room were still and silent as the toclafane fell as dust to the floor. None of them knew what to think or do. The Master tilted his head and sputtered for a moment. He glanced at the Doctor, but the other Time Lord looked just as shocked.

 

There was a heartbeat of stillness before the Master raised his laser screwdriver to the door, waiting. The camera operators turned off the cameras and cut the signal to Earth. Jack suddenly gasped back to life, lifting his head to look around. He began to sit up and turned his attention towards Martha with a look of confusion. Martha shrugged helplessly in response. The Doctor looked over at the countdown and tensed as it hit zero, but then there was nothing.

 

“What did you do?” the Master shouted turning to the Doctor. He gripped the railing with his free hand and gnashed is teeth. “You couldn’t risk altering it, not when I built it so how did you do this? I know you, Doctor! You wouldn’t risk it! So how did you do it? What did you do?”

 

“I didn’t,” the Doctor replied. A growing look of hope was taking over the Doctor’s face and some of his confidence returned. The grip of the guards loosened as they backed away. Standing up slowly, he took a step towards the Master. “You’ve failed Master, just stop this now.”

 

“No!” the Master shouted. He shook his head frantically. “The drums, the drumming…”

 

He stopped talking and stepped back to grab one of the stair rails behind him. The Master gasped as a soft golden light appeared in front of him. It had no form but shimmered and floated before him. His screwdriver fell from his hand and hit the floor with a loud clatter, but he didn’t notice.

 

The guards fell back, pulling out their weapons and not even bothering with the Doctor. Everyone scrambled back from the light, but the two Time Lords stared into it with looks of confusion and concern. Then a small beam of light shot out of the cloud and hit Jack squarely in the chest. The man gasped and panted as the light spread across his body. Golden light shimmered across his skin and golden sparks were drawn out of his skin.

 

Then it was gone. The beam of light vanished. Jack took a deep breath trying to stand, but he did not make it. Light suddenly spilled from his eyes and mouth rushing back towards the main cloud of golden dust. Coughing, Jack fell to his knees, but more light just kept coming. Martha rushed over to him, grabbing his shoulders in an attempt to keep him steady. Her fingers checked her pulse, but while Jack was struggling to breathe there was no pain.

 

“Jack,” Martha called. “Jack, it's okay, just hold on for me. Breathe through your nose.”

 

The shimmering cloud absorbed the light from Jack and twisted in shape like smoke, it gathered together in a tiny ball. Then it exploded outward, blinding all the room save the Doctor and the Master. Both Time Lords fell to their knees, protecting their faces as the raw power of Time rushed over them. Strands of light spun together, weaving themselves into a humanoid shape. Gasping, the Doctor’s eyes widened as familiar features appeared on the form’s face. A moment later, a solid and glowing Rose Tyler stood before the Master. She glared down at the Master with glowing golden eyes.

 

“I am the Bad Wolf,” the entity said. Her voice echoed through the room. “I create and defend myself and those that are mine.” The golden woman turned to look over at Jack, her expression softened and the harsh glow dimmed slightly around her eyes. There were a sorrow and fondness. “I restore mortal life to the slayer of Abaddon who carried the great burden that no other could.”

 

“What?” Jack gasped staring up at the figure. “You made me immortal on purpose?”

 

“I see all things, all possibilities and I created the best outcome for all of time and space,” the powerful voice shifted slightly to a more familiar tone. “I could trust you with the curse of immortality to serve the greater whole of reality. I could trust you with a spark of my power to ensure my return here and now and now I grant you your wish.”

 

Jack gaped silently at Rose while she turned her eyes to her other side where the Doctor gazed up at her in shock and awe. “You could control it,” the Doctor sputtered. “But…”

 

“Human,” Rose reminded him, her brown eyes gazing him kindly. The glow faded and soft brown eyes looked at him with affection. “Human understanding of cause and effect, so very different from that of a Time Lord. I guard Life and I guard Death, my Doctor.”

 

The golden woman gave the Doctor a small smile before she turned back to the Master who was staring up at her silently. She took a step closer to the Time Lord and fixed her golden eyes to his. Nothing moved and neither the Time Lord nor the Bad Wolf spoke.

 

“Please,” the Master finally gasped. “Please.”

 

Martha helped Jack stand up. He was still gasping and unsteady on his feet, but was staring at Rose with awe. The Jones family moved to join Martha as she moved to the side of the room. Around the room, the soldiers were lowering their weapons and stepping away from the glowing woman that had the Master on his knees. The main doors slid open and Timothy slowly entered the room, smiling over at the glowing female figure as he walked towards his fellow companion. Martha reached out and pulled the boy closer to her and Jack.

 

Bad Wolf nodded and put her hand on the long conference table at her side. Then she began drumming the beat that was so familiar to the Master. The Master’s eyes were locked on Bad Wolf’s as she drummed out the same beat that he had been carrying his whole life.

 

“Do you wish to know why?” Rose asked him, her voice vibrating through the room.

 

“Yes,” the Master shouted. “Yes please tell me,” he was begging now but didn’t care.

 

Rose stepped closer to the Master and raised a glowing golden hand over his head. Then the Master’s eyes glowed golden. His whole body twitched and the Doctor made an abortive move towards them.

 

“You shall see what I see, Son of Gallifrey and know the reason. Rassilon returned to life to rule Gallifrey at the End of the Time War,” Bad Wolf said in her echoing voice. “But with no victory possible he sought a new way for the Time Lords to rule Eternity. He would not die, he would not follow nature and he would not honour Life.”

 

The Doctor stared at her, his body shaking only the tiniest amount at her words. She knew. The thought that Rose now knew the truth, the whole truth burned through his mind. His stomach turned and he braced himself. What would she think of him? Would she- No he cut that thought off. She’d seen all of Time before and had still cared about him.

 

“The Time Lords determined to follow the Final Sanction,” Bad Wolf continued to the Master, seemingly unaware that the rest of the room was hanging on each word. “They would create a rip in the Time Vortex, damage Time itself to remake themselves into beings of pure consciousness. The Time Lords would exist free of the flesh, neither living nor dead, but at the cost of everything else in the whole of the universe, even Time. My Doctor stopped them and saved the universe.”

 

Rose paused and looked over the Master. “But Rassilon was clever too. He knew that my Doctor would use The Moment. He knew that two Children of Gallifrey would survive the end of the Time War, you and my Doctor. Rassilon used the Time Vortex, the Untempered Schism to put that drumbeat in your head. He sent it back into your childhood to create you as a tool. The Time Lords forged your madness, your pain and your grief to break the Time Lock. They made a monster so they could unmake the universe. That Son of Gallifrey is the reason.”

 

She removed her hand from in front of the Master suddenly as she stopped speaking. The Master gasped and fell forward, barely catching himself on his hands. Then his sobs filled the room as his body shook at the images shown to him. Rose looked down at him with softer eyes and said nothing as the Doctor came around her and knelt beside him.

 

“What is to happen next is not for you,” Rose said as she looked around the room.

 

Her golden eyes landed and each and every human employee of the Master. She raised and hand and the golden light filled the area. The numerous humans in the room slowly turned and walked out the door as if in a trace, even Martha’s family. Only Jack, Martha, Timothy and Lucy Saxon remained. Lucy Saxon took a shaky step towards her husband, keeping her eyes on Bad Wolf. Then the Bad Wolf looked up at Lucy Saxon and shook her head.

 

“It is not for either,” Bad Wolf’s tone was kinder. “There will be no pain and the grief you feel will heal.” Lucy’s eyes were filled with gold and then she too calmly walked out of the room.

 

“What did you do?” Jack asked.

 

“Removed the memory of this and sent them away,” Rose said simply, “They shall not remember it, only know that the President died and the aliens were stopped. What is to come is beyond what they are ready for and what has passed would have caused them all great pain and fear. They shall have peace.” Bad Wolf looked at Martha, Timothy and Jack and asked, “Do you wish the same for yourselves? I give you a choice?”

 

“I’m staying,” Jack told her firmly.

 

Martha glanced at the door where her family had departed and then back at the Doctor who was trying to comfort the Master. “Me too,” she agreed.

 

“I’ll see this through,” Timothy told Bad Wolf with a small bow.

 

“Very well then,” Bad Wolf agreed. “Rassilon wishes to come forward,” she said with a smirk. She raised her hand and the golden glow increased around her, flaring like a fiery halo. “Then he shall.”

 

“Rose! No!” The Doctor leapt to his feet and grabbed Rose’s hand, ignoring the power radiating from her. He pulled her close to him and begged her, “Don’t. Please don’t do this.”

 

The Bad Wolf’s eyes met his and the glow receded to reveal Rose’s own brown eyes looking into his. Rose raised her free hand and touched the Doctor’s cheek gently. She smiled at him, brushing her thumb over his lips.

 

“When last I was as I am, you did not trust me. I prepared a path for us, for the universe that is safe if occasionally painful. I saw the whole of it and found the best possible path for life. I prepared for my safe passage to the other universe to avoid the hell of the Void and I prepared my way back to you. I prepared the salvation of the universe from Abaddon and my own salvation for today in Jack. I knew that day that you would not trust me, I could see it so I left a part of this, of me in him which is the reason the power caused me harm. It was not because I was not meant for it, but because it was meant for now. My Doctor, when last I stood like this before you, you did not trust me. Will you trust me now?

 

The Doctor stared at her and swallowed before saying a single word, “Yes.”


	17. Time Personified

Survivors of Gallifrey

by Lumendea

Chapter Seventeen: Time Personified

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, Torchwood or the Sarah Jane Adventures and write only for the fun of it.

 

…………………………

 

Rose smiled at the Doctor’s statement to trust her. The gold receded and he could see relief and happiness in her eyes. Leaning up, she kissed him gently as the golden aura around her intensified. She glanced down at the Master before giving the Doctor a meaningful look. The Doctor pulled the Master to his feet quickly and the two Time Lords stumbled back a few steps. Rose’s eyes flashed gold again and the golden glow gathered around her once more. She lifted a hand in front of her and elegantly gestured towards the empty space before her. The Valiant shook and shuddered as the golden sparks flew from Rose and formed a small rip in the space before her.

 

The rip glowed a brilliant gold and slowly opened. It shimmered white within the opening and those watching could see a dark figure slowly being pulled forward. It was in a long robe and was struggling against the pull. Distantly voices could be heard, but it was too unclear.

 

“Do not resist,” Bad Wolf hissed at the figure. “You have no say in this, Rassilon.”

 

“Rassilon?” the Master repeated in shock. “What about the Time Lock?” The Master gasped looking over at the Doctor who nodded.

 

“You ran,” the Doctor reminded him softly. “Rassilon… he tried…” the Doctor trailed off unable to finish as the figure manifested before them.

 

Rassilon’s surprise was unmistakable as he appeared before them in his long red robe. His gauntlet was on one hand and his staff in the other as he looked over the three figures before him. Yet he recovered quickly, schooling his features and glaring at the strange glowing figure in front of him.

 

“Rassilon,” Bad Wolf said, lifting her face to Rassilon and intensifying her glow. “Last Lord President of Gallifrey and he that would have ended Time.”

 

“What matter of being are you?” Rassilon asked looking Rose over. “I see Time in your eyes, but you are neither Eternal nor Time Lord.”

 

“You have your answer then, Rassilon,” Bad Wolf told him, her voice echoing in the room. “Time lives in me.”

 

“Time has no personification!” Rassilon roared as he raised his gauntlet and channelled the energy towards here.

 

Bad Wolf waved her hand and the energy wave vanished. Rassilon’s jaw tightened and his eyes widened.  Then she pointed at Rassilon’s gauntlet and he gasped as it crumbled to dust. He looked down at his bare hand and took a small step back.

 

“Time needed no personification once,” Bad Wolf said. “Once all that was needed was a Champion and that was my Doctor, but the universe changed. The Time War spread across everything and damaged it all, leaving nothing spared and nothing safe. And then you,” her eyes flashed at him, “You decided yourself a god and deemed your species more valuable than everything else.”

 

“Billions of years of history,’ Rassilon hissed. “Billions of years of watching over the universe.”

 

“Watching the universe,” Bad Wolf said angrily. “Only one Time Lord watched over it, Rassilon, do not delude yourself or seek to lie to me. Rassilon of Gallifrey preached non-intervention and yet you looked into the future and saw the Divergence that would have eclipsed Gallifrey so you locked them in a Time Loop. You ordered the purge the Vampires and wrote the laws to restrict any other species ever equaling your own. You sought to shape the universe time and time again to ensure your own power. For no other reason than your own greed. You are a hypocrite and a danger to the universe. I lay the blame of the Time War at your feet Rassilon.”

 

“I have served Time forever, I created the Time Lords!” Rassilon shouted. “You cannot simply allow us to vanish into the Time War.”

 

“I can Rassilon,” Bad Wolf said. Her voice rang with finality and confidence. “I know what you planned. I know all that would have happened if the Master broke the Time Lock.”

 

Rassilon glared at her and looked sharply at the Master who was shaking his head and stumbling back away from the Lord President. The Doctor stayed still, raising his chin defiantly while Rassilon looked his way. His eyes jumped back to Rose as his two heart beat wildly. Trusting her, he said nothing, but that didn’t stop the worry.

 

“You put the drums into my head,” the Master whispered. His voice grew louder as he took a step towards Rassilon. There was excitement building in his voice.“To break the Time Lock and restore the Time Lords. To restore Gallifrey and save our species!”

 

“But at the cost of the universe,” the Doctor reminded him. “You weren’t there in the final days of the war. You never saw what was born. If the Time Lock is broken then everything comes through, not just the Daleks, but the Star of Degradations, the Horde of Travesties, the Nightmare Child, the Could-Have-Been-King with his Army of Meanwhiles and Never-Weres – the war turning to Hell!”

 

Bad Wolf turned away from Rassilon, completely unconcerned about him. She quickly closed the distance between her and the Doctor and took his hand. Her eyes softened as they met his and she brought her free hand up to touch his face once more. Then she turned to look back at Rassilon.

 

“I will not permit that back into my universe,” Bad Wolf declared.

 

“Your universe,” Rassilon growled. “The Time Lords-”

 

“Everything has its time and everything dies Rassilon. The universe gave the Time Lords billions of years to prove their value to the whole of life, far more than most species ever get. I will not allow the Hell of the Time War to damage the universe that is now beginning to heal nor will I allow your Final Sanction.”

 

Bad Wolf held out her free hand and smiled as the White-Point Star appeared in her hand. The Master, the Doctor and Rassilon all stared at it before it exploded in gold dust.

 

“It matters not,” Rassilon told her stubbornly. “I am here. I will live and I will find a way!”

 

“Yes,” Bad Wolf agreed. Her smile turned sharp and the title Bad Wolf no longer seemed foolish. “You are here alone, no other Time Lords and no Gallifrey.” She released the Doctor’s hand and stepped closer to Rassilon, her eyes turning pure gold as she met his eyes. “I am Living Time Rassilon,” Bad Wolf told him, “A mortal being, affected by time throughout its entire life, but also a mortal being that looked into the Time Vortex and survived using that power without causing harm to the universe. I am the personification of the will and power of Time in this and every universe. And I am very angry with you.”

 

Rassilon stepped back against his will and moved his staff in front of him which just made Bad Wolf smile. It was hopeless and Rassilon was finally beginning to understand what he had angered.

 

“I ended the Time War when I poured Time into the Dalek Emperor and turned it into dust.” She raised a hand. “Part of me wishes to return you to the Hell of the Time War to die Rassilon, but even I will not interfere with the Time Lock more than once. To end the drumming in the Second Son of Gallifrey and to end the Time Lord threat to the universe I must destroy you. I fear that your death at my hand shall be far more merciful than is deserved.”

 

Bad Wolf raised her hand, gathering energy while Rassilon stared at her with wide frightened eyes. Then the Master leapt from behind Rose and launched himself against Rassilon. The two Time Lords fell to the ground as the Master wrapped his hands around Rassilon’s neck.

 

 “You did this to me! All of my life!” the Master shouted. His rage echoed through the room. “You made me!”

 

“Not by your hand,” Bad Wolf said in a soft tone that still rose above the shouting and crashes at the ship continued to shake. “Today something new begins.”

 

The Doctor gasped as Rose released the energy she had been building into the room. Crashing into him, the force of the energy sent him falling backwards to the floor and he glanced over at Jack, Martha and Timothy who were all holding tightly to each other on the ground as well. He squinted into the bright space where Rassilon had been drawn out of as it snapped shut and vanished in golden light. Rassilon and the Master’s forms were surrounded in swirling golden light before a bright flash of light blinded him, forcing him to close his eyes. The waves of energy vibrated through the room for what must have only been seconds but seemed like hours to those still there. Then it all stopped and the room went silent.

 

Slowly, the Doctor opened his eyes and pushed himself up to his knees. His vision slowly cleared and he looked up to see Rose standing very calmly in the centre of the room. She seemed to sense his gaze and turned to him. The golden glow in her was fading as she knelt in front of him. Reaching out, she gently touched his cheek and took his hand.

 

“I’m sorry you had to face their decision alone. I’m sorry that you are the one the universe choices to make the decisions that no one else will.”

 

“It’s over,” the Doctor gasped. “All of it, the Master and the fall of Gallifrey.”

 

“Rassilon will vanish in the last second of the Time War and his signal is no more, the Time Lock will not be broken. I even erased an annoying little Dalek that tried to break through, but that is unimportant right now.” She kissed him softly and whispered, “Just remember Doctor, that so long as there are Time and Life there is a future possible.”

 

“Rose,” the Doctor said in awe as she glowed for one more moment before the aura vanished from her body. She fell forward into his arms and he hugged her tightly. “I love you,” he whispered. “So much. I love you, Rose Tyler.”

 

“I love you too,” Rose whispered. She blinked up at him, smiling softly. Wrapping her arms around him for a moment, she promised, “Always will.”

 

Then Rose suddenly pulled back from him and turned her head to look behind them where the Master and Rassilon had been. A pile of clothing and Rassilon’s robes were all that seemed to be left, but Rose pulled herself from the Doctor’s arms and scrambled over.

 

“Rose?” the Doctor asked as he followed her, “What?”

 

He froze as Rose pulled a small baby from the remains of the clothing and picked up Rassilon’s robe to wrap him in. She cooed softly to the child who smiled up at her.

 

“What?” The Doctor dropped down next to her as she rocked the child slowly, staring at the baby boy in shock. “What?”

 

“The Master,” Rose answered softly. “At the end, all I could feel from him was despair and doubt. His whole life, his whole existence was ruled by the drumming and then it was gone and he….”

 

“Rose,” the Doctor breathed, reaching out to touch the infant’s hand in awe.

 

“I remembered the first time I saw the Heart of the TARDIS and the Time Vortex and I remembered it giving Margaret a second chance,” Rose swallowed. “I restarted everything for him, he won’t remember what he used to be, but maybe if he’s raised differently this time around…”

 

“Pity for a Dalek and then for the Master,” the Doctor muttered before kissing her forehead, “Another Time Lord.”

 

“Are you okay with this?” Rose asked in a small voice, not meeting his eyes. “I know it was really unexpected and-”

 

Rose was cut off by the Doctor kissing her as their friends seemed to realise that the danger was over and start cheering behind them.


	18. Allons-y

Survivors of Gallifrey

by Lumendea

Chapter Eighteen: Allons-y

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who, Torchwood or the Sarah Jane Adventures and write only for the fun of it.

………………………..

 

They moved slowly, the Doctor keeping an arm around Rose’s waist since her hands weren’t free for him to hold. Even his brilliant brain was struggling to process everything that had happened. Rose had been gone and now she wasn’t. She had returned as Bad Wolf and stopped whatever mad scheme the Master had. Then she’d dealt with a future threat in Rassilon and made some mention of a Dalek. Probably that one that fled from New York. He wasn’t sure. The world had gone insane and yet Rose was beside him.

 

Jack helped Martha up from the floor and grinned at Timothy. The Doctor had been surprised when Timothy informed him that the TARDIS had been repaired by Bad Wolf and had been restored to its previous state, but had laughed it off with a glance at Rose. Rose gathered the tiny baby close, making sure that his head was supported before the group headed out of the central room.

 

The Doctor kept glancing down at the blond infant. The Master and yet not anyone. There was a faint telepathic hum against his mind from the baby who lacked any kind of shields. Right now it was sleepy and yet content in Rose’s arms. Maybe something of the Master’s desire to start over had remained and he knew she was the one who had done it. Or maybe her soft coos were comforting. He didn’t know.

 

“I’ll contact UNIT the moment we’re back on Earth,” the Doctor muttered. He shook his head a little.“With luck, I’ll be able to explain this to the Brigadier and not some random Colonel.”

 

“My family? Are they still on the ship?” Martha asked Rose.

 

Rose blinked at Martha and shook her head after a moment of thought. “No,” she answered. “I sent everyone to the shuttle bay with instructions to leave so they should all be on Earth by now.”

 

“Is it safe to leave the Valiant then?” Jack asked.

 

The Doctor stopped and looked over some nearby controls before nodding to Jack and saying, “The ship's systems have been taken over remotely from Earth and they’ll have a fresh staff up any moment. The ships Rose sent down would have arrived a while ago and I have no doubt UNIT is prepared to come back onboard very soon and probably very armed.”

 

“My family will be safe right?” Martha asked.

 

“Oh sure,” the Doctor assured her. “If Saxon had information on you, then I’m sure that UNIT does too and they always treat my companions well; comes with the history I have with them.” He smiled a little, his pace picking up a bit. “So there may be some questions, but you don’t need to be frightened of them.”

 

The Doctor kept walking but glanced over at Rose and the infant in her arms every few seconds. He heard Martha chuckle behind him but didn’t respond to it. They didn’t speak as they finished the walk to the TARDIS and the Doctor unlocked her with a flourish. The Doctor laughed and darted inside.

 

“Beautiful!” He shouted. “Oh, this is so much better!” He patted the central column. “So happy to see you looking right, Old Girl.” Then the Doctor nodded in approval. “Bad Wolf does good work.”

 

“I’m glad you like it,” Rose told him with a laugh as she sat down on the captain’s chair. “It took a whole thirty seconds.”

 

“You haven’t fully reformed yet,” Timothy said glancing at her. “Do you remember that?”

 

“It is starting to slip away,” Rose told him honestly. “But yeah I remember a lot of it still.” Rose looked over at the Doctor who was looking at her carefully. “Don’t worry Doctor, this is how it supposed to happen. I’d rather not live my life out knowing all the different possibilities, especially what would have happened with the Master and Rassilon. Just knowing that my glowing alter ego has tried to clear the path a little bit is enough.”

 

Rose looked over at Jack as the Doctor set the controls. The former Time Agent was staring off into space, not focusing on anything in particular. She bit her lip nervously and gathered her courage. In her arms, the baby shifted in response to her own uncertainty.

 

“Jack?” Rose called softly. “Are you okay?”

 

“I’m mortal,” Jack said. He sounded shocked.

 

“I thought…” Rose trailed off and swallowed, “You said…”

 

“No Rose,” Jack said looking at her with wide eyes. “I wanted that, thank you. It’s just I have to remember how mortals live. Well, that’s not exactly what I mean either…” Jack groaned and then laughed. “I can’t run head first into danger now.”

 

“You did that before you were immortal,” the Doctor reminded him with a grin.

 

“True, but far less often,” Jack said with a wink. “I’ve got all kinds of things to consider now. I could have a normal life with someone if I wanted.” There was a nervous, but excited look on his face.

 

The TARDIS stopped as it materialised on Earth and the Doctor opened the doors. They were standing in front of a large brick building and several UNIT soldiers were staring at them with slightly open mouths.

 

“You’re him right?” One of the soldiers asked, “The Doctor.”

 

“Yeah,” the Doctor said with a shrug. “Thought I’d make it easy on you this time.” Shaking her head, Rose kissed the Doctor’s cheek and turned back to the TARDIS. “Aren’t you coming?” he asked.

 

“We’ve got a baby on board now Doctor.” She reminded him with a smile. Timothy laughed quietly and followed Rose back into the TARDIS, only pausing briefly to glance at the large building. “Can’t just leave him alone.”

 

“Right.” The Doctor sighed. “That’s a change.”

 

“Domesticated Doctor.” Jack chuckled. “Now the impossible really has happened. Hopefully, you’ll take this as a hint to make a bunch of little Time Lords and Time Ladies with Rose.”

 

“Can you even do that?” Martha suddenly questioned. “With a human I mean, although Rose doesn’t seem so human now.”

 

“I need to check on that…” the Doctor said. “The is Rose human thing I mean.” He sighed again and shook his head. “And things just got complicated again.”

 

The soldiers all looked confused and the Doctor inwardly groaned, wondering how much of this would get back to Lethbridge-Stewart. Probably all of it. The Doctor shook his head as a high ranking UNIT officer came out of the building and saluted him. The man glanced at Jack in surprise and nodded to Martha.

 

“Thank you for coming to see us, Doctor, as you can imagine there are a lot of questions down here. Miss Jones your family arrived safely and is waiting for you inside. Captain Harkness, we can open a link to Torchwood, I’m sure your team will be interested in you working with your organisation’s number one enemy.”

 

Rose, on the other hand, was trying not to panic over her sudden adoption of the Master. The TARDIS was working with her today and seemed to understand her panic. Timothy opened a cupboard and found a cradle that he quickly pulled into a new room just off the console room. Rose set the baby down inside and backed away taking a deep breath. Looking over at Timothy she gave him a grateful smile.

 

“Thank you, Timothy, for setting me free.”

 

“You’re welcome.” Timothy looked at her for a moment. “Do you know how I knew?”

 

“Yeah,” Rose nodded. “As I said Bad Wolf made the way home, the complete way home and even you were part of that. Thank you.”

 

“It’s time for me to go home though now.”

 

“That is up to you,” Rose told him with a soft smile. “But I know why you want to. You’ve got a great future ahead of you even if the path is going to be hard and I can’t blame you for wanting to get started on that life.”

 

“I’m glad I came along,” Timothy told her as he looked down at the baby. “I remember the sense of the Master in the watch, but now all I can feel is hope and curiosity. He has so much potential and none of the old weights on him. It’s good to know that the universe really does grant second chances and that change is possible.”

 

“Completely new chance at life,” Rose said with a shrug as she plopped down in a large armchair the TARDIS created for her.

 

“For you and the Doctor too,” Timothy said.

 

“Yeah, I’m a bit nervous.”

 

“You’ll be brilliant, it will take him some time to move past his history with both children and who this baby used to be, but he will and then it will be brilliant.”

 

“I know,” Rose agreed, “I know, grand future ahead of us.”

 

“As you said,” Timothy reminded her, “As long as there are Life and Time there is a future,” he paused and smiled, “And so long as there is a future, there is hope.”

 

The Doctor returned to the TARDIS to tell Rose that Martha and Jack were staying on Earth and assured her that yes he had made Jack a super phone. He remained in the makeshift nursery, staring down at the baby while Rose left to say goodbye. Timothy watched the now elder Time Lord silently until the Doctor looked up at him.

 

“It is going to work out Doctor,” Timothy told him. “You’ll see.”

 

“I wasn’t much a parent the first go around.”

 

“I don’t know,” Timothy remarked. “I felt the pasts of both you and the Master and the childhood you gave your children was much better than the one he remembered. Plus you’ve got Rose.” Timothy grinned. “You are better with her beside you.”

 

“Yes,” the Doctor agreed with a smile, “Yes, I am.” He shook his head. “So much has happened in one day. It’s been a long time since I saw a day like this.” The Doctor paused and laughed, “Actually I don’t think I’ve ever seen a day like this.”

 

Rose returned to the TARDIS and the Doctor went into the control room to set the coordinates to take Timothy home. Timothy quickly packed the things he wished to keep in a sack and joined Rose and the Doctor in the console room. He placed his hand the console and smiled at the slight vibration. Turning to the Doctor he shook his hand and gave Rose a quick hug.

 

“It has been a pleasure, both of you.” Walking to the door, Timothy turned and smile, “Look after each other and look me up sometime in the future. I’ll want to see how your son is doing.”

 

“Our son,” the Doctor repeated in a small voice before grinning. “We’ll have to let you know what we name him.”

 

“That too,” Timothy agreed, tossing the Doctor his TARDIS key. “I would not have missed it for the world Doctor and I got to see the world and the universe saved in a single day.”

 

The Doctor reached over and took Rose’s hand as they watched Timothy walk out the door. The doors closed behind him and they stood in the silence.

 

“What was that you said about a Dalek in the Time Lock?” The Doctor asked suddenly.

 

Rose shook her head and kissed him firmly before saying, “I’ll tell you later Doctor.” She took his hand in hers. “Are you alright?” Rose asked him softly. “It has been a very long day.”

 

“Very long,” the Doctor agreed before pulling her into a hug. “But yes Rose, I’m okay. I’m better than I’ve been in a long time.”

 

“Good,” Rose said hugging him back. “That’s so good.”

 

“Brilliant even,” the Doctor told her. With a flourish, he set the control to take them into the Time Vortex.

 

“I’d go far enough to say fantastic myself,” Rose remarked with a grin.

 

The Doctor returned the huge smile and took her hand while he put his other on a lever. He pulled the lever quickly, sending the TARDIS spinning off into space and time. “Alright then, Rose Tyler, Allons-y!”


End file.
